Truth And Consequences: The Story of Veronica Franco
by ValkyrieLaufeyson
Summary: & auverse, oc / ?, franco / oc father&daughter,see notes& Veronica Franco thought that her life was pretty average, despite the things her own mother put her through. But when the truth comes out at last, and she realizes that her life's basically been one lie after another, she goes in search of the truth. What she finds in Port Charles, is more than she ever planned on finding.
1. NOTES PROLOGUE

NOTATIONS:

I think I started writing this after Kiki was revealed to not be Franco's daughter. I just hated that they took away the thing he apparently didn't even know he wanted, before he got a chance to fully realize that he wanted it. So yes, there will be a father daughter relationship between my original character and Franco.

As far as romance for my original girl, I'm torn between Morgan and Michael. I have it in my head that Veronica's sort of a good girl, if not headstrong and occasionally rebellious but only when she really knows what she wants is the right thing. She's passionate and she's sort of the person who will take care of anyone, she can be sensitive at times, tries to see the good in everyone, even when there is none occasionally. She's really intelligent (she's in AP classes at her current high school where she is a senior) and she's creative (she's into photography, dance and painting, she also sings and plays piano).

Make suggestions for a guy for her, please? I sort of want to pair her with either Michael or Morgan, but I'll take Johnny too. It'd be interesting to have her fall for an older guy, all three of these are older, but not so much that it'd be creepy or anything. I mean at least not like Cougar Ava/Morgan is to me.. But either way, this is just a story I started writing a while ago, I've got intentions to have interactions between Scott Baldwin and his granddaughter also.

I'll have full cast appearances but there will be no Carly/Franco, because I don't actually ship her with him, I ship her with Todd Manning. As far as which guy winds up with my oc,** you have 3 choices**, bear in mind my oc is almost 18 at the start of the story, so she's approaching adulthood, but she's **not yet an adult**.

Again, your choices for Veronica's pairing are :

**JOHNNY Z**

**MICHAEL III**

**MORGAN CORINTHOS**

& That is all ladies and gentlemen. If you wanna see more of this, please do review. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but no flames, please? This is my first ever attempt at a fanfiction of any sort, I normally do not write them, I just read them, but I was_ inspired_ by other stories written by friends but rest assured, my story is nothing like theirs. It's gonna be a mix of light and happy and dark and angsty at times because this girl has quite a struggle on her hands, if I do what I plan to do.

_ PROLOGUE:_

_ Growing up, I always heard that families have secrets. I usually just laughed it off and rolled my eyes, surely my own family didn't have any right?_

_ Last year,when I was about 16 I think I realized that for some reason or another, I just didn't feel like I fit in with my siblings. I mean they were all tall, fair skinned, blonde with green or brown eyes.I was short with dark brown hair that's almost black, olive skin, a pert nose and wide brown eyes. They always told me when I asked that I looked like a relative I'd never met or something. And for the most part, that worked.. _

_But I'm** almost** 18 now, I will officially be 18 in a matter of days actually, and last night, I overheard an argument between my parents (after they'd seen something on the news) that sort of made me realize just how much of my life was a lie. So I reacted the way any other 18 year old would react, of course, I started doing some digging around.. After a knockdown dragout fight between my mother and I, the woman's always been selfish, she's never worried about anything but herself and how to save her own skin, I swear, I ran away, and then I started doing my digging, doing my research.. _

_And what I found lead me here to Port Charles. To a father I'd been taken from, my mother never even once hinted she might be pregnant and it might be his child. To a town who only knew that father as the worst scum of the earth to ever have walked the planet. _

_To a place where the saying 'Apple doesn't fall far from the tree' is often how people write people they don't know or understand off._

_ To a love I never thought I'd find myself falling in, with a guy I'd normally never give a second look to. We're polar opposites. But hey, I've often been told opposites attract, right? _

_My name is Veronica Grace Dupree (Franco) and this is my story. These are my adventures (and misadventures) in Port Charles. Where apparently, anything and everything under the sun is possible, even for a cynic like myself._


	2. THE TRUTH COMES OUT I

**CHAPTER 01:**

Her parents arguing wasn't a new thing to 17 (almost 18) year old Veronica Dupree, but tonight it was different. Tonight, whatever caused it started when the news showed some story about a man that'd upset her mother, sent her mother running upstairs and probably to her room for a few pills from her stash.

It'd gotten worse from there and now, Veronica sat in the stairwell of the house, her knees to her chin as she listened to her parents yelling and screaming, shoving and pushing one another. She'd been just about to go upstairs, and then out onto the roof, away from it, to look up at the stars in the sky, she liked doing that, it calmed her, but something said in the kitchen between her father and her mother made her stop and listen.

"She's not my fucking kid. Just admit it, finally, Aurora. You used that man, that monster's baby to trap me because he walked out on you. I bet you never loved either of us, or any of our other kids either. " her father said in a deathly calm voice, stumbling drunkenly over a few words here and there. He'd started drinking right after the news earlier, and by now, he was actually pretty far gone. It was rare to see him like this, even rarer that he lost his temper with her mother, even in her worst behavior, he'd just quietly taken it all on the chin and tried to ignore the way she treated him, their 3 children.

Her mother's answer made her gasp, bite her lower lip and go pale. "Okay, fine, Tony, you want the truth? You've got it. I told you Veronica was yours because you wanted me so much, you loved me when he didn't. I thought that in time I could love you as much as I loved Franco... I wanted to make you happy, I wanted my kid to have the life I didn't.. I knew how he was then, you were the safer bet and you were there. So yes, Tony, I lied to you and I lied to him too .. But you wanted to believe it. You wanted her to be yours. You wanted me. Obviously Franco didn't because he walked out on me before I could even try to tell him."

Her father laughed hollowly and shook his head, throwing a bottle of vodka at the kitchen wall as he shouted in anger, " I should've known.. You're a user just like,just like that whore of a mother of yours. You used me. And you'd have kept using me if I hadn't found out the truth. I'm done, Aurora.. I'm finally sick of being your second choice. I'm going to take our kids and go. I'd suggest you tell Veronica the truth. Do the right thing for once in your miserable life. Tell her when she's back home from cheerleading practice that Dad loves her and if she needs him, she knows how to find him. I'm not gonna punish her because her mother's a lying and cheating whore. I'll be talking to a lawyer about finally ending this lie we've been living on Monday."

He grabbed the youngest of the children they raised together, their things from the laundry room and then walked out, got into his truck and left. Veronica had always sensed that one day he'd leave and she'd be stuck with a mother who did nothing but drink and sleep around, who didn't care anyone else but herself.

Veronica sat on the stairwell, jaw dropped, face pale, tears streaming down her cheeks as she thought about watching her baby brother and sister being carried out the door by a man she'd thought until just now was her father, was the one source of stability she actually had in her life because God knows their mother damn sure wasn't reliable or caring. She felt hurt, but more than that, she felt anger at her mother. How could her mother have done that to a man who'd loved her the way he had? How did her mother continue to cheat and lie to the man almost daily?

She stood and walked into the kitchen, said calmly, "Hope your happy now, mother. Not only did you finally run off a man who's put up with everything you put him through, but now I know the truth. Why didn't you tell me?"

Her mother stared at her and said quietly, "Your real father... He wasn't a good man.. He wasn't completely sane when I knew him.. And it was a fling. I had to do what was best for you. Why are you complaining, you should be grateful you little brat. I did all this, I lived with a man I didn't and wouldn't ever love, for you."

"And in the process, you didn't care who else you hurt?" Veronica asked, barely holding in her anger by now. She wished she'd went with Tony, (the man she'd thought was her father until exactly 10 minutes ago), but she could see why he'd just want to get out, away from them both. He was hurt, she didn't hold it against him. She hated that he'd taken her baby brother and sister away with him, but again, she held nothing against him. The entire marriage had been a sham and her mother wasn't the kind of person one would just walk away and leave two small children with.

No, she held it all against her mother. Her mother always did things like this, it was one reason she'd always been closer to Tony, to her half siblings. Her mother took a long pull from a bottle of vodka and Veronica scowled, grabbing the bottle, throwing it at a window, shattering the glass.

"That's only one of your problems, mother. But you don't care as usual. You've finally done it, Mother. You've gotten rid of any and all responsibilities you might have. Because there is no way in hell I'm staying here."

"Fine you ungrateful little bitch, go to Tony." her mother called out as Veronica ran up the stairs, into her room, throwing things into a suitcase. After finding her stash of allowance, some other money she'd been saving, she grabbed her keys and ran down the stairs, slamming the front door to the small 2 story house behind her, causing pictures to fall off the wall in her wake.

Once she was in her car, she sat there, Ozzy Osbourne playing quietly as she tried to decide what to do first. She could just go to Tony, but she was afraid he'd turn her away now, after all, she wasn't really his child.

She could go to a friends, but that was just childish and a moot point now, considering how she no longer wanted to live with her mother, or even see her again, ever.

One place remained and she was faced with an even bigger uncertainty. If she went to Port Charles, which was only about a 3 hour drive away, and she did find her real dad.. Would he actually want her around?

Or was her mother not lying about something through the skin of her teeth for once? All she knew about the man was the little she'd looked up on him while hastily packing her things upstairs. All she really knew right now was that she was never more afraid of anything than she was right now, this very second.

Everything that happened after this moment was going to either change her life for the better or for the worst.

She turned the key in her car and pulled out of the driveway, grumbled and dabbed at the stinging tears in her eyes as she looked back at the house she'd grown up in, thought about all the lies her mother told all the time, all the promises her mother broke on a regular basis.

"Looks like whether I want to or not, I'm going to have to at least try. I'll never know if I don't try." she said quietly as she turned into the street, heading out of town. After setting her GPS for Port Charles, where she'd actually been a few times, with friends of hers who liked the mall there, used a spa in a hotel there, she had the rest of the drive to quietly play out different scenarios in her head.

Meanwhile, back inside her old house, her mother was pacing, frantic as she looked at the cordless phone in her hand. She had a feeling that Veronica was leaving, and she wasn't going to just go to Tony this time.

She bit her lower lip as she dialed information and gave them his name.

It was time Aurora and Franco had a talk..

And it wasn't something that Aurora was particularly looking forward to, in all honesty.


	3. THE TRUTH COMES OUT II

**CHAPTER 02:**

"Who is this?" Franco asked as he stretched, glaring at the phone in his hand and then at the alarm clock on the nightstand in the bedroom of his new and very small loft apartment.

"It's me, Franco.. It's Aurora." Aurora said as she paced her home's small kitchen, drinking vodka straight from the bottle. She wiped her lips and then said calmly, quietly, "We need to talk."

"I've really got nothing to say to you. You basically tell me that you screw around on me, you knew I let you in, I let you in deeper than I let anyone else in, actually. I told you things, Aurora.. And you betrayed me. Then you left with that guy without looking back. So if you're calling to pick up where we left off, just know I'm not interested actually." Franco said as he poured himself a cup of coffee, coffee he spat out all over the cheap imitation marble counter minutes later when Aurora responded, "Those things you confided in me, Franco.. That's why I left. I couldn't.. I didn't want our daughter growing up with that."

"What the hell do you mean our daughter? What is this call for, Aurora? Another one of your cons? I'm not buying it." Franco said as Aurora sighed on the other end and said quietly, "When I let you leave, I was pregnant. Everything you'd told me when you let me in was what made me decided to run with Tony and never look back."

"And now you're calling to tell me that we have a daughter.. That I have a child, a child you let another man raise and kept from me? This is just what I'd expect from you, Aurora." Franco said bitterly as he took another sip of his coffee, tried to get his head around the news. If Aurora wasn't lying, of course. Aurora had always been fond of lying to get her way, to make herself look better, to save her own damn skin. And she'd gotten that trait from her own mother, a woman he'd met a few times, and hadn't ever really been too fond of.

"Don't you want to know about her?" Aurora asked as Franco said quietly, "If this isn't a lie." as he stared at the counter and took a pill for pain, he'd been shot again recently, almost died again. He'd recently lost Carly, the second woman to ever penetrate his thick skin, the numerous defenses he had to keep people out. Aurora sighed as she looked at a picture of their daughter with her half siblings, wearing her cheerleading uniform. "She's almost 18. She'll be 18 in a week, actually. She loves to dance and sing and she paints.. You should see her paintings." Aurora muttered through her tears.

Franco tried picturing himself as a father, tried picturing this girl, his second shot at being a father, he'd just lost the first one thanks to Ava's lies, Kiki wasn't his daughter, it'd killed him to find that out. He'd realized then just how much he'd wanted that, to be a parent.

"What's she look like?" he asked as Aurora sighed and said quietly, "Actually, that's why I called tonight.. She.. She found out the truth, Franco, and Tony did too, he took our kids and left me, she left at least an hour later, all her stuff is gone from her bedroom."

"What do you mean she's gone and she left? Do you do any sort of parenting?" Franco growled as he found himself concerned about a girl that for all he knew might not even be his kid in reality. He didn't know her, but he knew Aurora. He knew how Aurora liked to twist the truth for her own good. She liked to make things all about her.

Aurora bristled at his stern tone and then said quietly, "She's almost 18, Franco, I couldn't really stop her from leaving. She either went to you or she went to Tony, but given what I found on the history of the computer in my office, I've got the feeling she's heading there, to you." as she took another large sip of vodka. Franco huffed at her nerve, the fact that she said that her own daughter had left so casually, and that she was probably sitting in her damn house now, drinking.

She drank when things got bad.

"Are you still living in that town 3 hours away?" he asked as Aurora said quietly, "Yeah.. So she'll probably get into town in the middle of the night, but she might not confront you straight out. She's afraid right now, Franco, everything she knows is.." her voice trailed off as he laughed bitterly and added "No thanks to her mother, everything she knows is a lie. Yeah, I get it. I'm not that heartless." as he thought to himself, _'And as soon as I've found her, if she really is my daughter, I'm going to talk to Diane about custody. Or something. Because it's obvious Aurora hasn't changed, and maybe if I get our daughter out of that, it won't be too late for her.' _

"I'll send you a picture of her so you know who to look for." Aurora said quietly as she texted Franco a few of the pictures she had of Veronica on her phone. He waited and then said quietly, "I got them now. As far as we go? I'm not sure what I'm gonna do, Aurora, but I do know that if you're lying to me again, I will know. I will be getting a DNA test."

"And I think we both know what it'll say, Franco. Just try not to turn into the monster you really are around her?" Aurora said quietly before slamming down the phone, having no idea that Franco had just had an operation that removed the tumor from his brain, the tumor that made him the monster he had been.

All she knew was that for the first time in her whole life, she was completely and totally alone. Everyone had finally gotten tired of her lies, her childish ways and now she was going to pay for all of it. She slugged the bottle of vodka and then said quietly, "I deserved this. I knew one day this was going to happen. Now I just have to hope that everything fixes itself sooner or later. I'll give her a few weeks and go to her."

Little did she realize, that a few weeks might just be too late. A few weeks would be more than enough time for her daughter to truly bond with the father she'd been denied her entire life, to finally find that one place where she really and truly fit in.

Franco lie on the bed in his apartment scrolling through the pictures Aurora sent via text of their daughter. He had a feeling he knew what the tests would say when he got them done, but he was reluctant to hope that he might actually have a shot at being a father. "Tomorrow I'll talk to schools. I'll start talking to Diane, I'll set up the paperwork for the DNA test. But she might not even come here.. Thanks to Aurora, her letting that Tony idiot raise my daughter, she might not even come here. She might go to him, her siblings instead." as he took a few deep breaths.

Everything he hoped for was right in his reach. And everything, once again, was riding on tomorrow. Would she show up in Port Charles? And what would he do if she did? Could he really trust himself? Was it really just the tumor that'd made him do all the things he'd done?

Either way, he had the feeling that a lot of his questions and doubts were about to be answered.


	4. THE TRUTH COMES OUT III

**CHAPTER 03:**

She stared at the industrial looking apartment complex that the internet had listed as her father's current home address and took a few deep breaths. "To go in or not to go in?" she muttered, shuffling her feet against the stone pathway leading through a sort of courtyard, up to the double door entrance of the building.

It looked really, really expensive, really fancy. She was used to the informality of her mom and Tony's house, the light wear and tear on the outside.

Cars passed by on the road behind her, the horns blowing occasionally at each other in passing as all around her the inner city began to awaken.

She'd been planning on making a move to the big city when she graduated, to attend some performing arts college where she intended to major in dance. Now it looked like she might be arriving sooner than she anticipated. She just hoped to hell that this didn't go as badly as she feared it would.

She'd been just about to walk into the building, but she saw him, her real father, walking out of the building. Quickly, she dodged behind a wide steel beam that stood nearby, had a garbage bin and outdoor ashtray in front of it. She caught her breath and peered curiously around the beam, watching the man.

"Not yet." she muttered to herself as she watched him pause and turn back a moment, staring in her general direction.

He shrugged as if he thought he'd seen something and got into the first taxi cab that came along. She let out the breath she'd been holding and then took off at a run down the alley nearest her, and slid into the nearest building, which happened to be a coffee shop.

Moments later, a deep male voice said quietly, "So, do you want a menu or..." and she looked up. "I,umm... Sure." she mumbled finally as she forced herself to stop staring into the deep and almost stormy greenish grey eyes of the tall dark haired male who'd asked her the question. "I'll have a black coffee."

"No cream or anything?" Morgan asked, brow raised. The girl seemed skittish, she kept watching the window that fronted the booth she sat in as if she were expecting to have to bolt at any second. He thought it unusual but he chose not to comment. Instead, he asked her with a slightly more charming grin, "So, what's your name?" betting to himself that Molly or Kristina knew her, she did, after all, look close to their ages.

"It's Veronica.. And no, no cream." Veronica said as she raked her hands through her hair, muttering to herself how childish what she'd just done had been, how stupid and utterly desperate it was, stalking her real father like that, watching him from behind steel beams in front of apartment buildings.

"Are you okay? You seem upset." Morgan asked finally, growing tired of watching her look like she'd run for the nearest exit. If she was in danger, he just didn't want her leaving. Maybe if he sat down, got her to talking, she'd tell him what seemed to be bothering her and he could tell his father or something.

"I'm good, I just.. I did something really, really stupid just now." Veronica said, forcing herself to smile convincingly, laugh a little, throw a little flirt out there to keep this guy from getting too suspicious and calling the local cops or something.

After all, her mother had been nearly falling down drunk when she'd ran the night before, and the woman did have a flair for the dramatics. There was no telling what she'd done after Veronica told her she was done with the lies, her mother's childishness, and walked out.

"Wanna talk about it?" Morgan asked as he watched her carefully. She turned her attention back to the window and said with a quiet shake of her head, "Not really. Let's just say it's been one hell of a night for me, sir, and let it go?" almost pleading with him as she looked up at him.

"It's Morgan.. I'm only 20, not anywhere remotely close enough to being a sir." Morgan said as he asked her, "What's your name?"

"Veronica. You kinda asked me that when I came in." Veronica said quietly as she took a sip of the straight black coffee he bought over in a steaming cup. "You sure you don't want any creamer or anything in there?"

"No, really, it's fine, Morgan." Veronica said quietly as she looked up and apologized, "Sorry, it's just.. I'm sort of on edge."

"Why?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it right now." Veronica answered his question as she took a larger sip of her coffee, blew on it to cool it down.

"If you need help, my dad owns the place." Morgan offered as she shook her head again, said calmly, "No, I think I'll be fine.. I just have to do something."

He gave a nod and walked over to the booth his brother Michael sat in, leaned down and whispered "Don't look up or over.. But I think table 4 is a runner."

Michael briefly looked up from his newspaper, saw the teenage girl sitting in booth 4 then asked Morgan, "What makes you think that?"

"I've run before, Michael, trust me. She's got all the signs. She's jittery, staring out the window, looking around like a deer in the headlights." Morgan said as Michael nodded then asked, "Do you plan on telling Sonny?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe we should sorta shadow her around town first?" Morgan asked, raking his hands through his hair as he asked, "What made you come in here?"

"I'm going to confront him about what he did to my father." Michael said calmly as Morgan groaned, shook his head. "Let it go, Mike."

"He shot my father, Morgan. He shot AJ." Michael said through gritted teeth as he happened to look up, see Veronica dart out the door. A quick look at the table showed she'd left payment for the coffee and a tip, an origami folded napkin. He nudged his brother and said quietly, "Your runner just ran."

"Shit." Morgan muttered as he turned to the booth, expecting to see a typical drink and ditch. He'd done those quite a bit when he'd been on the run a while back. Instead, he saw money sitting underneath a napkin folded neatly, the shape of an origami cat.

"Okay, that wasn't weird. Girl's obviously freaking out, she was obviously in a hurry to get the hell out of Dodge, yet she not only pays the tab, but leaves a napkin folded in the shape of a cat?" Morgan muttered as Michael nodded and said "If I see her around, I'll try and see what she's up to. I'm gonna go back to the hospital now though, check on AJ."

"What you need, Mike, is sleep." Morgan said as Michael waved him off, walked out the door. The brothers weren't nearly as close as they'd once been, all thanks to Kiki Jerome making a wedge between them.

But lately, since Michael and she were drifting apart, the two of them, Michael and Morgan, seemed to be attempting to at least be civil towards each other. After all, they'd both been fooled by the same girl and Morgan had only just broken up with her mother for much the same things Kiki had done to both of them at one point or another.

Holding a grudge was really a moot point, it'd been their own stupidity that'd gotten them into their situations.

Michael caught sight of the dark haired girl from moments before about halfway down the sidewalk as she stood in front of the art gallery Franco had only just opened, looking tenderly at the paintings in the storefront windows, her fingertips and face pressed to the glass, just out of sight of most of the people inside the gallery.

He raised a brow and quietly walked up behind her, walked past her. She was a striking girl with long dark hair, wide and almost golden brown eyes, kind of curvy for her age he noticed that she looked to be around Kristina's age.

He'd been just about to speak to her, but she vanished into a nearby thrift store and he heard his mother calling his name from behind him. Grumbling he turned around and started to walk back towards his mother. Maybe she knew something about AJ.

Inside the gallery, Franco happened to look up. And he happened to catch a fleeting glimpse of what he thought might be his 'daughter', the girl Aurora claimed was his child when they'd spoken over the phone the night before. By the time he migrated through the thick midday crowd and got to the door, she'd gone. It'd been the second time today he'd thought he'd seen her.

The first time had been this morning, outside of his new apartment complex when he'd been leaving to come in and open the gallery for the day, post up some of his newer paintings, paintings he'd done the night before when the muse hit him after his talk with Aurora about their daughter.

Or what she claimed was his child at least. He'd displayed them in the storefront window this morning. Most of them were of a young girl, a side profile painting, vague facial features, as if the painter had been standing far away from his subject.

If he had to shrink himself, Franco would most likely guess that it represented how he felt now knowing that he actually wanted to be a parent, knowing that he'd almost had it once and Ava had lied to him so it'd been taken.

Now he had another shot and he feared deep down that Aurora would take that from him too. He slid out his cell phone and looked at the photos Aurora sent to him last night when she'd called him, frantic, worried that her ass was in a sling because Veronica found out the truth and Veronica ran as fast as she could.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall, talking to a woman who was interested in his newest painting, telling her quickly, "That one.. It's not for sale. It's just there."

"But I'm willing to pay..."

"It's not for sale." Franco said through gritted teeth as the woman glared but turned on her heel, walked away. "People in this town. Money's no object. It's sort of sickening if you really think about it." Franco thought aloud as he walked to the door of the gallery again, peered out and down the sidewalk.

Maybe he'd imagined seeing her. She was probably with the only father she'd ever known, no thanks to Aurora, right now. She'd probably ran there and not here.

He flipped the sign on the gallery's door from open to closed and walked into the back area, looked at the blank canvas and his paints for a moment. Last night, he'd gotten his inspiration back without having to murder.

"I did think I saw her twice." he said to himself as he pocketed his gallery's keys, then walked out the back door, setting the security system in place as he did so. Maybe a look around town to either confirm or disprove his thinking he'd seen her twice already would do him some good. Maybe at least then he'd know he hadn't seen her, she'd ran to Tony, the other man in all this, the only actual father she'd had.


	5. TWO GUYS ONE GIRL I

**CHAPTER 04:**

She lingered in the lobby of the Metro Court, working on her cover story. She'd never done anything even remotely close to this before, in her life, and she hated lying to anyone. But if she were going to get around town, at least until she figured out what she was going to do about confronting her father, without raising any eyebrows, she knew she'd have to do things differently.

"Damn it, I'm never gonna pull this off." Veronica muttered to herself as she bit her thumb, paced the lobby in deep thought. She knew thanks to the weather it'd be cold tonight, probably the coldest night of this week.

She knew also that she didn't want to wake up a popsicle or something.

She looked at the wad of cash in her hand, contemplated a few moments and then turned, prepared to walk out of the lobby. She smashed directly into the chest of a taller dirty blond male. He steadied her, grabbed her almost bursting duffle bag and said with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind.. You're okay, right?"

"I kinda crashed into you first. Are you okay?" Veronica asked as she looked up at the guy, managed a polite and also very wary smile. He looked familiar, then she remembered, he'd been the guy she'd sort of been covertly staring at earlier today in the coffee shop.

The one talking to the other male that'd captured her attention, Morgan.

"Have I seen you before?" Michael asked, knowing that he had, only a few hours earlier, when his brother Morgan pointed her out. She nodded and said quietly, "Maybe?"

"What's your name?" Michael asked, concerned about her. If she had a duffle bag full of clothing, that meant she was running. And tonight it was supposed to be the coldest night of the week. Had she been intending on trying to somehow get a room here?

"It's Veronica." Veronica said quietly as she looked at him, then around the lobby, her eyes darting all over.

"I'm Michael.. Do you need a room? My mom.. She owns the place." Michael asked as she shook her head and said quietly, "Not enough money, I'm afraid. I'm gonna try and find someplace else. Do you know of any other places?"

From behind her, the voice of the other male from earlier, Morgan spoke up as he said calmly, "My apartment."

Michael raised his brow, mouthed to his brother, "Are you nuts? We don't know her.." with Morgan mouthing back, "And she needs a roof over her head, even if it's just for tonight, man. She's scared to death."

Sensing herself in the midst of some sort of standoff, Veronica said aloud, " Thanks, but I'll find somewhere. I've got family in town.. Sort of." as she hurriedly ducked out the doors.

Michael and Morgan stood staring at one another, arms crossed. "So you were just going to let a strange girl sleep in your apartment?"

"And you were about to sneak her into Mom's hotel, Mike." Morgan said calmly as he added "At least I cared enough to make sure she's not in some kind of danger."

"No, Morgan, I've seen that look. I'm pretty damn sure you only wanted in her pants." Michael said through gritted teeth as he added, "I was about to offer my place too." as an afterthought.

The brothers stared one another down intently, and their mother's voice cut through the apparent tension in the room, making Morgan leave and Michael walk with his mother into her office to check in, see if AJ, his father had woken yet.

If they thought the rift was repaired, this whole thing with the strange girl was a test of it. And they'd both just seen how much the rift between them was not repaired.

It was still there.

Michael saw Kiki's number flash on the display of his phone and for a moment he considered answering it. But then he reminded himself that she lied to him, she'd caused him to drift away from his younger brother.

He'd been part of it, yes, by giving in to her, believing in her, but still.. She'd been the primary cause of their recent problems.

Down the sidewalk, Franco stepped out of a small organic market on his way back to his apartment building just in time to see her again. She stood at the edge of the sidewalk, thumb out, bag slung across her back.

"Okay, so she did come here. Now what do I do? If I go over, I'm going to scare her away." he mumbled to himself as he slipped up behind her, using the other people on the sidewalk to sort of cover himself while he did so.

He'd been just about to tap her shoulder when Morgan Corinthos walked up and stepped out in front of her, stopping her, starting a conversation.

"Okay, that settles it." Franco mumbled to himself as he added "If the DNA tests say she's my daughter, I'm getting the tallest tower they make and throwing her into it. Then swallowing the key. She's only been here a few hours and she's already making nice with one of Sonny's sons. Nope, not gonna happen."

The overprotective tone of his silent musings shocked him a little. Maybe he would make a good father after all.

Morgan caught up to Veronica outside of the hotel and stopped her. "Back there.. I wasn't.. I wasn't trying to be a creep when I made the offer.. I know how it feels to be somewhere, to be totally alone, be afraid.."

"I'm actually not afraid. And I realized you weren't trying to be a creep. I just.. I really don't do things like this," Veronica said as she swung her arms wide, gesturing to the city behind them both, as she added "Ever. I'm not the kind of girl who loses her shit with her mother and then storms out of the house. But when I found out what she was hiding, I..."

"You what?" Morgan asked as he studied her intently. He'd sort of gotten the sense that she was one of those rare 'good girls' earlier. Maybe that was why she'd been so skittish?

"Nevermind, I've said too much already.. Look, I'm just here to find someone.. I mean I'm here to approach someone...I think.. I don't know yet.. I just.. They might not even want me to stay." Veronica admitted as she looked up at the taller dark haired male, shivered and bunched down into her thin leather jacket.

"Who?" Morgan asked as she shook her head and said "I can't say. I have to go, okay? It's late and the shelters will all probably close soon. So thanks for the offer, but I'm not gonna come between you and that guy back there.. It seemed like that was what was going on just now, I'm not that kinda girl." Veronica said as she turned and took off at a sprint, disappearing into the thick evening crowd on the sidewalk.

Franco spoke up from behind him, startling him. "She's here to find me." he said quietly as Morgan raised a brow and then asked him "Why?"

"Because according to her mother, whom I trust about as far as I can throw her, Morgan, she's my daughter." Franco said as he gave Morgan a firm look that clearly read 'And I'd like it if you stayed the hell away.'

He glared a moment and then watched where she'd disappeared to on the sidewalk ahead of him moments before.. Maybe Franco wasn't lying this time?

But given what he actually knew about the Franco of old, (he still didn't honestly trust this 'newer, better' Franco, even if said guy had saved his mother recently), he wasn't sure if he liked it.

And then he wasn't sure why it bothered him, either.. He'd told himself when he and Kiki ended, then again when Ava ripped out his heart and crushed it, lied to him and almost cost him his entire family, he was done.

Just like he suspected his brother Michael had.

And now, it looked like both guys might just be worried about the same girl, for very different (and a few of the same) reasons.

Morgan sighed as he walked into a nearby storefront, looking around idly. He'd spooked her just now, he knew that, he'd seen the look in her wide and warm brown eyes moments before she bolted. If she was here to see her father, why not actually see him? He made a mental note to get to know the girl a little better. He told himself it was just because he wouldn't want Kristina to be totally alone in a big city, but deep down, he knew he had other motives. She made him feel something, something he hadn't felt in a while.

She made him feel like he could protect someone, like he could help someone.. and he wanted to help her. But beyond that, Morgan just wasn't sure what else he felt for her.

Meanwhile, Michael sat in the park on a bench, just thinking for a while, clearing his mind before he went home to his apartment, alone again. He saw the girl run past and quietly, he stood and caught up to her, gently grabbing her elbow. "Any luck with the shelter thing?" he asked, his eyes full of concern as he looked at her. Veronica studied him a moment and said simply, "Like I told the other guy. I'm not the kinda girl who comes between guy friends. And yeah, actually, I found a cheap room at some motel."

He knew she wasn't being completely honest, and he knew that she was still as skittish as she was earlier, but he had no idea what she was still running for now. "Can I go now?" Veronica asked as she managed a convincing smile, or what she hoped would pass for one currently. "If you wanna stay at my apartment, it's 324." Michael said as she looked at him a moment, heard someone shouting at her. "Shit.. Look, thanks again for the offer man, but I gotta go.. Now." as she took off at a run.

Seconds later, a rookie cop from PCPD ran past, stopped long enough to ask Michael if he'd just seen a girl run through, said that she'd paid for a room at a motel with a credit card that had been reported stolen. Michael raked his hand through his hair.

For a moment he considered going after her, but something told him not to, it'd just make her run farther, faster. And he felt this concern for the girl, maybe it was because she reminded him of his own sisters or something, but he just didn't want anything he did to make her run, put herself in any worse danger. He'd been through it with Morgan, and Morgan had almost gotten himself killed trying to get away from the men after him then.

Michael's confronting him had only almost cost him the life of his younger brother, he knew that now. He muttered quietly to himself, "I'll keep an eye on her." as he backtracked and went to the hotel she'd probably just tried to pay with the stolen card and quietly took care of the bill, giving the night security man instructions to keep an eye on her.

Then he went home, alone.. And sat around trying to figure out what the reason was behind both himself and Morgan being interested in the same girl, again, was.


	6. THE TRUTH COMES OUT IV

**CHAPTER 05:**

"What in the hell do you mean you've reported the credit card she took when she left stolen? Do you want her getting arrested and taken to jail before I see her?" Franco raged at Aurora, his ex, the mother of his child, Veronica as she sighed on the other end of the phone and said quietly, "She needs to come home."

"She needs parents who actually give a flying fuck about her." Franco said as he added quietly, "It kills you, doesn't it? She's not just taking everything you've done to her, this particular lie of yours, in stride like you'd hoped. She's here, and she could be with me right now, and that kills you." listening for Aurora's sniffle, anything to indicate that his words might have made their mark. It came when she sighed and said quietly, "You're not the kind of father she needs, Franco.. What do you really know about raising a teenage girl?"

"Apparently, more than you at this point.. She's only been in town a week now and I've managed to not only get her DNA and match it against mine, but she's not involved in anything major."

"She stole my credit card, Franco, well not mine, but the one I cosigned for her to use in emergencies, when she ran away. Or did you just choose to ignore that? I reported it stolen for her own good. She can't just think she'll get away with this, even if I started this whole thing. She has to learn not to defy me, ever. I am her mother."

"And I'm her father, Aurora, and I think we both know the only reason you even did this is because you're acting out. You're being petty and childish. The card is in her name."

"And she's still a minor. Which means that if I choose, I can have it cut off. And if she won't come home on her own, if she's going to insist on being stubborn, then by god, Franco, so will I. She's my child, it's my business." Aurora insisted drunkenly, as she sipped a glass of wine and then added quietly, "This wasn't supposed to happen. My life was good, better without you in it.. She was going to go places, do the things I couldn't do because I had her and had to give up every dream I ever had for myself.. She was going to support me when I grew old. I had plans for her." mostly to herself, not thinking Franco heard her. But he did and he slammed the phone down in anger after retorting, "Yeah? Well those plans are done for now, because this afternoon, Aurora, I'm going to my lawyers. I'm going to tell them everything I know about you, what you've done and when I'm through not only will I have custody of our daughter, I'll make sure you don't come within a foot of her again."

Aurora laughed bitterly and flopped down on the sofa in her living room, taking another long pull from the bottle in her french manicured hands as she leaned back against the high back of the sofa, squeezed her eyes shut. Her phone rang and she smirked as she answered it.

Veronica swore and then said quietly, "Go ahead, Mother.. be as childish as you want. Hope you know, thanks to you reporting my own damn credit card stolen, I now have an arrest on my record. And by the way, Mother.. I don't care what you do to try and make me come back.. I'll die before I come back there and listen to all your lies, deal with you being the child and me being the adult."

Aurora said quietly, "I just hoped you'd get a taste of how scary the big city can be, how your father really is and come back.. It's been a week, Veronica, I miss you.. Don't you miss Mom?"

"If you were my mom and not some manipulative childish.. Nevermind." Veronica said as she hoisted herself up on the counter at PCPD's booking area, swung her legs as she tried to keep herself calm. She'd never been in any sort of trouble, then naturally, she decides to find out the truth for herself, has a tantrum with her childish and drunken lush of a mother and now, she had an arrest on her record.

Julliard wasn't going to give her a second look with an arrest on her record.. She just had to hope that somehow, she could still pursue her own dreams when the time to go to college came, that this one small arrest didn't throw her entire life out the window. She bit her lower lip as her mother sighed on the other end and said calmly, "If you'd just come home, Veronica, I'd be willing to forget everything."

"Yeah? Well tough shit ma, because I wouldn't." Veronica said firmly as she looked at Detective West, shoved the phone back down into it's cradle. "Take me back to my cell now." she said as he gave her a look, concerned about her. "DO IT!" she said firmly, her teeth gritted.

"You're a minor.. Are you sure there's nobody else you want to call?" he asked her as she shook her head and muttered something under her breath, let him lead her through the bullpen and down into booking. Once the iron cell door closed behind her, she flopped down on the uncomfortable bed and stared at the ceiling for a few moments while she bit her lower lip.

Meanwhile, Franco stood in the office his father held in PCPD, explaining the situation as it stood currently, Scott listening with a raised brow as he took it all in. Apparently, not only was he a father, and was he finally getting a chance to be involved in one of his kid's lives, but he was a grandfather. "Well?" Franco asked as Scott said quietly, "And you say the card was in her name?"

"It was, yes. But her mother was a co signer, and when she took the card before coming here, her mother, in a fit of childish anger had it reported stolen. I'm guessing she hoped Veronica would run back home, tail between her legs if she got brought in for actually using the thing." Franco explained as he sat down and said "Point being.. Do you think I have a shot in hell at getting custody of her?"

"She's over 12, the courts usually take what the child wants into consideration.. Has she actually approached you since she's been here?" Scott asked in curiousity as Franco shook his head and said "And I've been keeping my distance, trying to keep an eye or two on her until she does.. I understand why she wouldn't, she's just found out everything she was raised to believe was a lie."

"And you're afraid if you approach first, she'll run?" Scott asked as Franco nodded and then said "I just wanted to come by and see if there were something I could do, as her biological father, to get the arrest wiped from her record."

"It was more of a warning than anything. It's her first offense, I think Detective West was just going to hold her a few hours and let her go to teach her a lesson.. Why not approach her now? While she's in holding?" Scott asked as Franco sighed and said quietly, "I'm still getting over the shock and truthfully? I'm sort of freaking out here.. I mean I was a psychopath until the operation.. I still have bad days."

"But you're getting help, son. This kid sounds like she needs at least one parent who gives a damn and isn't using her as some pawn in some mind game. And you need family.. Isn't that why you reached out to me?"

"It is, but.. I just don't want to fuck someone else up in the head like I was." Franco admitted as he stared at his hands. "Just go down there. She's probably freaking out right now, she's alone in a big city, she doesn't know anyone and she's just been arrested due to a misunderstanding." Scott demanded, opening the door to his office, pointing out of it grimly.

Franco gave his recently found father a raised brow but stood and walked down to holding, asked to be let in. And he stood there, lingering in the doorway, wondering what he should even say to her, considering what her mother had done to both of them. Finally, he approached the cell and cleared his throat, making the teenage girl on the other side of the steel bars look up.

She blinked and he said "Hi."

"Hi." Veronica said quietly as she tried to think of something to say. "This isn't a habit." was the first thing that came to mind as she rubbed her arms. Being behind the steel bars had her skin crawling. Franco nodded and said "I saw your records. I also talked to your mother.. She, umm.. She called me the night you ran away."

"Interesting.. So did she tell you the truth or did you have to drag it out of her?" Veronica asked quietly, picking at the black chipping polish on her short and bitten nails to avoid eye contact. She was nervous. This is not how she'd planned this to happen, she'd had this big speech in her mind, she'd had this planned.. This is not how she wanted to finally meet her real father.

But apparently, that's how it was going to happen.

"She admitted it. Wasn't happy at all that you ran here, of course.. Why did you come here?" Franco asked, adding immediately, "Just out of curiousity, I'm not saying you're not wanted here or anything.. It's gonna take some getting used to.."

Veronica nodded and shrugging said quietly, "Curiousity, I guess.. I mean for a while now, I've just sorta felt like I didn't fit in with my family.. Like nothing about me fits in with what I know about my mom, what I knew about Tony.. I look nothing like my half siblings.." while shuffling her feet against the cold hard concrete flooring of her cell.

"And did you find what you came looking for? I've seen you following me." Franco admitted as she looked up and shrugged, said quietly, "Sort of.. I just.. I didn't know what to say or do.. I was working up my nerve to approach you.. I was gonna do it during your gallery show tonight, actually. Then this happened.." biting her lower lip as she paused a moment and asked "Are they going to let me go? I'm not in serious trouble, am I? I mean it was my own damn card, my mother reported it.."

"I know.. She called me earlier about that, told me what she was planning to do. She wants to force you to go home.. So, I guess that leaves me with my last question.. Do you want to go home?" Franco asked as he looked at her, waited on an answer.

"Not really.. But I don't wanna make you feel like, obligated or anything." Veronica said quietly as she looked up and then asked "Would you be mad if I stayed?"

Franco managed a smile, shook his head and said "Not at all.. That being said.. I've been on that side of those bars before.. Let's get you out of here and we'll talk about everything else on the way back to my apartment, huh?" as she looked at him warily before finally managing a grin and nodding gratefully, standing up.

They walked out into booking and Franco filled out the necessary paperwork to get her out of jail, then turning to her he said with a shrug, "It's not much.. But do you feel up to eating some chili on the way in? I'm actually not much of a cook..." managing a smile at her. He was still getting his head around all this but maybe, just maybe he'd actually be a decent parent, not like her mother had been to her.

Veronica smiled and shrugging said "It's cool.. Chili's good with me. And I'm gonna pay this all back, sir."

"We'll talk about that on the way back to the apartment." Franco said dismissively as he lead his daughter out of the police station.


	7. HOME SWEET HOME I

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 06:**

She felt herself being prodded awake gently and sitting up in the passenger seat, stretching, she asked her father, "So.. You're really sure you're okay with me staying? I mean I want to get to know you. And besides, Mom.. She didn't exactly win any mother of the year prizes, trust me.. Tony took care of me. And he's the one who encouraged me to come here, find my answers."

"I bet if your mother knew that, she'd have a fit." Franco mused as he walked around the car, let his daughter out of the passenger seat and said with a chuckle, "This place isn't much.. But for now, it's home.. I'll get the security guy to get you a key." as she nodded and then asked "But you're sure you're okay with me being here? Like, I won't be in the way, right?"

"Never, Veronica. I want to get to know you too, remember?" Franco said as he looked at her, still getting his head around this really happening. He might finally get the chance to be a parent, a chance that'd been dangled in front of him like a carrot a few months ago and then unceremoniously snatched away when Ava revealed that he wasn't Kiki's father, Silas Clay was.

He felt excited about something for the first time in a long time.

"I'm boring, sir." Veronica said as she followed him into the building, stopped with him at the security desk and met the building's security staff, her father explaining the situation as it stood. Seconds later, she added the key to her father's penthouse apartment to a necklace that already contained a guitar pick and beads spelling out her name.

"You play guitar, huh?" Franco asked his daughter as she shrugged and said quietly, "I just mess around with it, really, occasionally I sing.. It's a bass guitar though." while twisting her hair around her fingertip, looking up at him. He smirked, nodded and then said "I used to play guitar at your age. Your mom.. She told me you paint too."

"Mhmm. Mostly just these things my old art teacher called zendoodles." Veronica answered as she walked down a long hallway lined with matching red doors, finally stopping at the one on the very end of the hall, nearest a large balcony sitting area that overlooked the courtyard and pool below. "Awesome! This place has a pool?" she asked as Franco chuckled and then said "It does. I hardly use the thing though. I'm sure you'll be able to." while he unlocked the door to the penthouse, calling out casually, "We'll have to go shopping tomorrow, let you fix the spare bedroom the way you want it fixed." as Veronica nodded and stepped into the large penthouse behind her father, looking around.

"Wow.. This one room's almost as big as the entire lower floor of my mom's house." she mused aloud to herself as Franco shrugged and said "I don't have much stuff, so it looks bigger than it really is." while turning on lights, then the television.

Veronica wandered to the second bedroom down a hallway, stood in the doorway, looking in. This was going to be her new home, her new room.. She wondered for a split second, if she'd done the right thing, but then she remembered every lie her mother ever told her, everything she'd been pushed into doing that she hadn't really wanted to do, just to make her mother happy.

It was time to do something for herself, make herself happy. Her 'other father' Tony even agreed to that, stating his own intent to divorce and be done with her mother as soon as he could, then seek sole custody of her half siblings.

Of course, he'd told her she was more than welcome in his house anytime, she was still his 'daughter' even if they weren't biologically father & daughter now that the truth was out. She felt regret for hurting the man, but she had to know.. She had to at least try to form a bond with her real father, if what she'd read and seen about him on the news was true, he needed this just as much as she did.

"Like I said.. It's not much." Franco said from behind her as she turned to him and smiling asked, "So.. Does this mean I can get the famous artist himself to paint a mural on my wall?" while fixing her eyes on him. Franco smiled and shrugging said "As long as it's not of Justin Bieber or something, yeah.. And you have to help.. It can be a father and daughter project?"

"I'd like that, sir." Veronica said quietly as she managed a soft smile then asked "So.. Please tell me this chili you spoke of earlier is en route?"

"Actually, if you want, we can go down to get it." Franco said as she nodded, slid on her black leather moto jacket and tossed him her keys to her car.

He pocketed the keys and said casually, "So.. I suppose we should stop by my lawyer's office, talk things over with her, let her know the situation?" as she nodded and said quietly, "Yeah. Because the sooner I know I never have to see that.. Her again, the happier I'll be." while walking out of the apartment with her father, down to the car where it was parked in the garage.

"How about some furniture shopping while we're out?" he asked as they pulled into the diner's small parking lot, got out. She nodded, momentarily distracted by the sight of the tall and dark haired male that'd sought her out earlier in the day. She bit her lower lip and forced herself to look away, reminded herself of the tension she'd caused between him and the blond male earlier.

She wasn't that kind of girl. But it didn't go without saying, she definitely felt some sort of spark towards the dark haired male, something about him..

"Did you hear me?" Franco asked his daughter as she coughed and asked "Huh?"

"That kid is trouble." Franco stated as they walked into the diner. He glared at Morgan as Morgan's eyes followed his daughter into the building. As a father, he was intent on keeping Veronica out of bad situations, and frankly, what little he knew about Morgan.. The kid was a trouble magnet.

Veronica stopped in front of a bulletin board advertising community events and looked at the poster a moment. They were having some kind of talent competition to raise money for the hospital, the children's ward. She bit her lip a moment and her father's voice from behind her was what encouraged her to sign her name to the tryout list. "You're sure you don't mind? I mean it's not like I'll win."

"I think you'll surprise yourself. You're an artist's kid, remember?" Franco mused as he fluffed the girls hair and found them a booth, the two of them both sitting in a similar manner, head resting on the palm of their hands as they read the menu.

The silence was broken when a girl around her own age approached with menus and introduced herself as Molly. Veronica smiled and introduced herself, Franco casually asked "Is your mother here?"

"She's in her office.. Why?" Molly asked as Franco explained "Because, I want to talk to her about a custody case. Diane told me to seek her legal assistance, she's got at least 3 cases going right now and doesn't want to give me the short end of the stick with mine.. I also wanted to talk to your mom about which school she thinks Veronica might go best in?"

Veronica bristled at the mention of school, her nerves for a moment tensing. She'd forgotten in all the excitement of the past few days, that if she did move in with her father permanently, it meant leaving everything and everyone she'd grown up with, attended school with behind and starting over, totally.

She'd be the new girl, in a new town, where she only really knew her father, and she really only barely knew him.

"Did you sign up for the talent competition?" Molly asked her as Veronica nodded and said with a shrug, "Thought I might play my guitar, sing a Pretty Reckless song or something. I'm not that great, but it's a charity thing."

Molly nodded and smiling said "I thought about signing up too. I'm kind of nervous about doing it. I'm not much of a performer."

The door opened and Morgan walked in. Veronica couldn't help the way her eyes sort of followed him as he got in line at the counter, picked up an order obviously placed to go. Molly giggled a little and then said quietly, "That's Morgan."

"I've met him." Veronica said back as she managed a smile, let her father continue talking to Molly's mother via Molly's cell phone. "Maybe Franco will put you in Madison Prep." Molly said as Veronica nodded and said "Only if it doesn't cost too much. I kinda know about his whole situation as of lately.. I looked into him before I came to meet him. Not gonna make him pay out the ass for me to go to school. Not to mention, I'm actually not really fond of uniforms." making a grimace as she thought about the uniforms, Molly laughing.

Franco hung up with Alexis and then smiling at Veronica said "Well, she wants to see us when we're done here. Then we'll go get you a bed, some other stuff." as she nodded, stuffed her mouth full of chili and tried like hell NOT to stare at Morgan as he walked back out, only barely acknowledging the nod he gave her on his way, the slight 'bad boy' grin on his face.

"That guy is trouble." Franco reminded his daughter who nodded and said through a mouth full of chili "I know, dad. I'm not going to run off and marry the guy, no worries. But to be trouble, I gotta admit.. He's kinda hot."

Franco grumbled and chuckling said "So, do you feel more comfortable in PCH or in a private school? Alexis seems to think that Madison Prep would be good." as he thought about Alexis's tense warnings about his custody case, how his past might be dredged against him, about how if she weren't his last resort, she wouldn't be taking his case because of the things he'd done.

He was wondering if he shouldn't just take his daughter and find a town where nobody knew him, nobody would judge her by what he'd done before the operation that'd saved his life and stopped the monster within from surfacing again.

Would she even want to stick around when she'd been here a while and heard every horrible thing he'd ever done? And if she didn't, would he be able to be alright with that?


	8. HOME SWEET HOME II

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 07:**

CHAPTER 07

" You're sure you wanna paint your room gray? With baby blue trim?" Franco asked his daughter with a raised brow as she stared at him, her hand on her hip, the other hand in her long hair, slowly nodding her head. "Actually,sir, now that you mention it.. I think I just wanna go with gray?" she said quietly as Franco studied her, she went on to explain farther, "Lighter colors calm you when you're trying to sleep."

"But it's a depressing color." her father insisted as she shook her head and said "Not when you paint my mural on the wall over my bed, it won't be. We can use bright colors there." which her father replied "This mural.. Any ideas what you wanna do there?"

"Well, it's kinda like this tattoo I saw once?" Veronica explained, keeping a slightly crooked smile on her face as Franco rubbed his chin and then asked "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not gonna like the sound of this?"

"It's nothing bad, sir, it's basically just graffiti art. Like you started out doing?" Veronica asked, making him chuckle and then ask "And how do you know about my graffitti?" while looking at her solemnly. She shrugged and said after a few moments pause, "Because, duh, the internet has everything on it. I know, sir."

"So you know everything else too?" Franco asked, curious.. What had his daughter found on him before she came here to meet him, get to know him? He found himself concerned suddenly. He wasn't that man anymore, and he was trying his best to become a good guy, move beyond the past, try to build his new life, post surgery with as little complication as possible.

Especially now, Alexis seemed to think that if he had any prayer of getting custody, even a custody hearing for that matter, in regards to his daughter's custody, he'd better be damn sure he didn't even jaywalk.

"Yeah, I know everything. Including the details on the condition the doctors said you had, and how that brain operation saved your life. I get why you did all the things you did before it, sir, I'm not stupid, I did my research." Veronica said quietly, smiling a little bit as she added "Like I said. I wanted to get to know you, flaws and all. Besides, you're already doing a lot better at this parenting thing than Mother ever did. You're not yelling at me to get lost while you stumble around the house, spilling vodka everywhere."

"She was that bad, huh?" Franco asked, wincing, looking at his daughter in concern. She nodded and said quietly, "That wasn't even her at her worst."

He found himself curious, but it seemed to hurt her too much to discuss it, so for now, he changed the subject, pulling her into the section of the furniture store that held the beds and dressers, desks. " I'm gonna see if I can guess." he said with a slightly rugged smirk, jokingly going to a pale white ruffled monstrosity of a canopy bed.

The glare in her warm brown eyes and the shake of her head no told him he was wrong, of course, but he knew that already. He watched her looking at the bedroom suites, and saw her eye the white wooden bedroom set, it looked like an antique one that had built in shelving in the headboard, a white desk and matching chair, and a tall white wooden wardrobe that had 4 drawers and a mirror built into the doors at the top.

"That one? Seriously? I bring you in here and tell you not to worry about cost, just find something comfortable, and you're going to pick something that looks like it belongs in the house of a little old lady, or some 50's sitcom teenager?" Franco asked, scoffing at it. She shrugged and said "It's comfortable. Besides, I'm really not into flashy shit, sir, if it's all the same to you."

"Okay, alright, fine.. At least get a decent mattress." Franco said as he watched her picking out the mattresses, then bedsheets that were black and white chevron striped, a blinding pink and black comforter, a few pillows. Finished with that, he said with a smile, "So.. Let's go fix your room then?" as she nodded and then said "Yeah. The fun part, sir, will be getting her to agree to having my clothes and all my other stuff shipped here." with a slightly sarcastic tone as Franco nodded and said quietly, "You let me worry about that though. I've got a lot I want to say to your mother."

"That I've probably told her a thousand times already, but she doesn't give a crap." Veronica pointed out, making her father nod in agreement. "She's always been like that, hasn't she?" Veronica asked aloud as they stood in line to pay for the things they'd bought, make arrangements for the furniture delivery truck to bring the bedroom suite to the penthouse apartment.

"She has. I actually didn't know how selfish she was until she did this." Franco admitted as Veronica looked up at him, nodded. "So, tomorrow, we'll go to Madison Prep, see about getting you enrolled there." Franco ventured, Veronica bristling at it, muttering mostly to herself, "Don't remind me, I'll be starting in a place where I don't really know anyone."

"Not so good with people?" Franco asked as Veronica shrugged and said "It's not people I'm bad with, actually, it's stuck up assholes and princesses." making her father laugh as he nodded in agreement, pointed out, "You'll love the Quartermaines then." a note of sarcasm in his own voice as Veronica asked "Why would I be having anything to do with them?"

"Your uncles were actually Quartermaines.. Or did you miss that in your research, kiddo?" Franco asked as Veronica scowled a moment, her hand in her hair as she tried to puzzle that one out for herself.

"Ughh, seriously?"

"As a heart attack. Jason might have been decent if I hadn't completely screwed things up between us before he died. He was probably the only actual tolerable one.. Then there's Michael, he's okay."

"I think I met him.. He's related to me?"

"And that guy I keep telling you is no good." Franco said as Veronica raised a brow and then blurted out "Is everyone in this damn town related?"

"Not really."

They stepped out of the store and walked back to her car just as Michael was getting out of his own car a few spots over. Michael gave Franco a wary look and then gave Veronica a smile, which she returned politely, a half wave.

Michael studied the girl walking in beside Franco. By now, the whole town was talking about how she was his daughter, she'd come to live with him. Michael had to wonder why exactly, and be concerned for her safety. He still didn't trust Franco as far as he could throw him, of course.

Once Veronica was in the building, Franco asked casually, "So, are you excited? I mean you've got school tomorrow.." a slightly sarcastic laugh as he looked at her, the expression on her face, added quietly, "If you hate it, just call me. We'll find another school."

"I'll be fine, sir." Veronica said politely as they walked back into the penthouse. She walked down the hallway and into her new room, grabbing her guitar, walking back out into the den area. "So.. You used to play, huh, old man?"

"Hey, you watch your mouth. I'm not that damn old."Franco joked as he took the black and chrome guitar, strummed a few basic chords on it. "So, I'm guessing I'm gonna get used to hearing noises now, huh?" he joked with her, getting a throw pillow lazily lobbed in his direction as she shrugged and said "For the most part, yes."


	9. FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 08:**

Chapter 08

The pristine and well manicured green lawns of the Madison Prep campus lie stretched out in front of her as she parked her car and got out, looked warily at the building, a slight scowl painting her face as she muttered "Already I can tell.. If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport." while raking her hands through her hair and looking around.

She'd been about to walk into the building but she felt a tap to her shoulder, turned around to see the girl she'd met in the diner a few days ago, Molly, standing there with a tall dark skinned male and a few other kids.

"Is it true you're the daughter of that crazy murderer?" one of the girls asked as Veronica rolled her eyes and Molly turned to look at the girl who'd spoken and said "A tumor made him that way, Ariel, it's not nice to talk about someone's dad that way."

"What she said." Veronica said as she studied the girl who'd immediately asked her about her father thoughtfully for a moment before turning her attention to Molly, who was really the only person she knew even a little bit, even felt comfortable talking to.

" Don't worry about her." Molly said quickly as Veronica chuckled and said quietly, "I don't. People like that just amuse me, really." making the other girl glare and then mumble something neither she nor Molly or TJ could quite make out before storming off. Veronica mused aloud, "Gee.. It only took her 10 minutes to realize that she wasn't gonna find out any deep dark secrets and lose interest." which made TJ laugh and say to Molly, "I kinda like her."

"Yeah, she's grumpy, but she's cool." Molly agreed which made Veronica pretend to pout and say in a quieter voice, "Not always, Molly, sheesh. So, did you get to watch it?"

"The video you sent me?"

"Mhmm. I'm thinking about either doing that song for the talent show or Flagpole Sitta. Something that's different. Screw getting up there and pretending to be Britney Spears or some shit." Veronica said as Molly laughed and explained to TJ, "She's our resident rock star wannabe I guess." before handing TJ the cell phone she held in her hands and letting him see the video Veronica sent her the night before after they'd ran into one another again at Kelly's and exchanged phone numbers and made plans to hang out sometime, a thing that made Alexis, Molly's mother look both grateful and a little worried about..

"You play the bass?"

"Mhmm. And paint. And I sing a little too, but it sounds like cats caught in a dryer when I sing so I don't do it that much." Veronica stated as they walked closer to the large stucco building, stopping on the stone stairs that lead up to the large glass and chrome double doors. Veronica hitched her leg up on the half wall that served as a support for the stairs and straightened a stocking she wore under the ugly uniform skirt, griping about how the wool on the skirt itched and she hated uniforms and wanted to burn hers on the front lawn.

Molly laughed and then said aloud, "Careful, you might upset the sheep. Can't have anyone who's different." with a teasing wink as Veronica laughed and rolled her eyes at a group of whispering girls nearby.

TJ groaned as one of the girls approached and smiling brightly asked "So, are you like, a murderer too?"

Molly saw the smirk curve Veronica's lips and palmed her face as she realized just what kind of personality her newest friend had. Apparently, she liked to mess with people's heads, because her next words to the girl who'd asked were "Dunno? Wanna piss me off and find out, little pretty?" in a mock 'witchy voice' similar to the one that the Wicked Witch of the West used in the Wizard of Oz.

Molly high fived Veronica when the girl glared and stormed off, mumbling things about how she'd 'show that bitch her place' and Veronica called out sweetly, "Go ahead, babe. Make my day." while holding her middle finger up.

"I hate small minded idiots." Veronica muttered as she bit her lower lip, her eyes softened and the hurt she actually did feel about the remarks made towards her father showed through momentarily. Molly nodded and said "They gave my sister Kristina hell too. It was because of them that she left town for Yale the second she got her diploma.. Them and her father, Sonny."

"No fuckin way.. Corinthos is her dad?" Veronica asked with wide brown eyes as Molly raised a brow and answered "And my uncle. It's messed up, really."

"It sounds like it."

Molly shuffled her Converses against the linoleum in the halls and then said quietly, "So, a certain guy might have asked about you last night after he saw us talking at the diner.." while looking at Veronica with a wide smile, wondering if she'd take the bait, wondering if she'd get to play cupid for Morgan and her new friend.

The way she saw it, Morgan could do so much better than Ava, a woman he was seeing that was twice his age and a raving bitch with bad family ties and the habit of getting everyone around her up to their necks in trouble of some sort.

Veronica straightened the blazer she wore with the skirt, momentarily unbuttoning it to reveal a Black Sabbath t shirt over the standard button down they were required to wear, as she fixed her necklace and then asked Molly, "Yeah? What'd they ask exactly.."

"How old you were.." Molly said as she ignored TJ's firm look that clearly read 'Stop meddling' and then continued carefully, "If you were doing okay with Franco and if you were sticking around.."

"Hmm.. So, who was this mysterious person?" Veronica asked, while crossing her fingers in the pocket of her blazer and hoping to hell that it wasn't Michael, the guy she was actually related to (but oddly enough, sort of thought was cute, in that dorky Dudley DoRight sort of way, totally not her speed, and actually felt no real sparks for whatsoever in the few times she'd encountered him), but the guy she now knew was his half brother, Morgan.

The guy she wasn't related to. The guy who managed to take her breath away just by walking into a damn room if the night before was anything to go by, of course..

The night before, she'd been talking to Molly at the diner while waiting on the food she and her father ordered to be prepared and she'd seen him walk past and promptly spilled soda all over herself watching him walk by while trying to fill her cup and listen to Molly at the same time.

"Morgan."

"Hmm. Interesting... How old is the guy anyway?" Veronica asked as Molly smiled and then said aloud "I knew it!" triumphantly then answered in a quieter voice "He's 19."

"Holy hell. I thought was around our age." Veronica gaped as she bit her lower lip. Not that her terminally nerdy ass dated much, but she usually didn't date older or younger guys than she was as a general rule.

Older guys tended to try and push you farther than you wanted to go, or so she'd heard from way too many of her more promiscious old friends, and younger guys.. They didn't know what they wanted, or who with and most of the time they'd be interested in you one day and the next they'd be all over some other girl.

And then there was the fact of course, that Veronica was a bit of a romantic at heart. She wasn't going to settle for anything less than fireworks. So she hadn't dated much, she honestly hadn't kissed a guy or gone any farther than a kiss on the cheek, a peck on the lips. She always told her friends it was because she was 'busy having a life' or some other smart ass comment, but she knew deep down it was because she wanted to hold out for something that felt real.

Or as close to real as possible for her age.

She wanted fireworks and fairy tales and nothing else would do.

"He's only a year or two older than you." Molly stated as she snapped her fingers impatiently in front of Veronica's face and told TJ, her boyfriend, "It's useless. She turns to butter, that goofy grin, if his name's even mentioned." while laughing and shrugging off the glare that Veronica gave her as an answer.

"Ha ha ha. Still not funny. Kiss my ass." Veronica retorted as she walked along side her only two friends and ignored the weird looks, the whispers and the occasional comment made at her expense. She turned her attention to Molly and said quietly, "Besides, my dad's been telling me he's bad news like every ten seconds since he realized we knew each other.. I don't think he'd be cool with it."

"And my mom's not cool with TJ and I. But we care about each other. Do you feel something for Morgan?" Molly asked as Veronica shrugged and said "To be honest? I don't know. I never actually did the whole boy girl dating thing.."

Both TJ and Molly gaped at her for a moment and then looked at each other and laughed a little, Molly asking "You're joking.. Right?"

"Nope. Just never got around to it?" Veronica admitted sheepishly as she pulled notebooks out of her locker and grabbed the books that'd been issued to her earlier in the week when her father bought her to register for school from the top shelf.

She caught sight of the guy in question, he loomed in a doorway, watching her casually, giving a wave. "What the hell is he doing here?" Veronica asked as Molly turned to see Morgan standing there. Morgan walked over and then said with a cocky grin "Got bored and felt nostalgic."

"Sure you did." Molly replied as Veronica muttered quietly, "Hi." and shuffled her feet.

Given what Molly had only just finished telling her, she felt a little strange standing here, him only a few inches away, close enough to reach out and touch. Her father's warnings about him kept repeating, she kept reminding herself that she wasn't the kind of girl who went against her parent's warnings and wishes, that until she'd run away from her mother and her mother's lies, she'd been a good girl, essentially..

And she was going to remain a good girl, by the gods, if she could help it.

Morgan chuckled as he said back in the same quiet voice, "Hi. How's it going so far?"

"Good. Maybe I won't kick half the other girls asses by lunch." Veronica mused aloud as she asked him, "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and said with a cocky grin, "Wanted to make sure you were actually alright living with the jerk."

"As you can see, still have all my limbs and I'm healthy." Veronica said as she added "He's not like everyone keeps saying he is. The tumor is what caused his psychosis."

"So he says." Morgan countered as he looked at her, realized they were sort of migrating closer together. He stepped back a little and said quietly, "Either way.. I actually came by here to talk to one of the teachers. They're gonna give me a recommendation for an internship I want to go for when I start college in a few weeks."

Molly cheered at hearing this and said "You're finally going to go?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go to PCU. I don't want to leave my dad here, he'd be alone." Morgan said quietly as he held Veronica's gaze and added with a slight smirk, "Besides, there's someone I sort of want to get to know. Maybe."

Veronica bit her lower lip and then retorted with a casual shrug, "Maybe they want to get to know you too." before looking at her watch and then saying aloud "I'm gonna get to class. All things considered, I'd probably better be on my P's and Q's today." before giving Molly and TJ a wave goodbye, winking at Morgan on the sly and skipping down the hallway and into the door of her homeroom.

Molly giggled as she looked up at Morgan and then said "You two are so cute."

"Who said I meant her?" Morgan said as he ducked the lazy punch thrown to his upper arm, pretending to pout as he said to Molly, "Hey.."

"Don't you Hey me.. You said last night that you thought she was cute."

"But I'm with Ava. I love Ava. I mean I think I love Ava." Morgan insisted as Molly grumbled and rolling her eyes said "Snap out of it, Morgan. She's using you. She's been using you, she does that to everyone. You've been hurt enough already by that daughter of hers, Kiki. You barely made it through that."

"Molly, you don't know the side of Ava that I do." Morgan said quietly as he bit his lower lip in thought and then added "Besides.. Someone can be cute to you and it doesn't mean you're going to fall head over heels crazy in love with them. I barely know her.. I wanna get to know her, but she's sort of standoffish I've noticed. Besides, Michael likes her.. And Michael always gets what he wants." with a roll of his eyes at the mention of his older brother, who he was still slightly pissed at about taking Kiki from him, even if Michael and Kiki were apparently broken up now.

It still didn't take back the pain or the fact that Michael did it.

"I know enough about Ava to tell you she's not the least bit in love with you. She's using you to get to Uncle Sonny."

"That's something I have to find out on my own then." Morgan said as he realized that deep down, what Molly said out loud, he was already beginning to suspect as of late. He'd sort of began to see that Ava only wanted what was in it for Ava. She didn't care who she hurt in the process.

He couldn't help but wonder sometimes if she wouldn't just toss him out like the garbage when he'd served his purpose.


	10. MILESTONES BETWEEN FATHER DAUGHTER I

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 09:**

Chapter 09

Franco's phone ringing in his pocket had him stopping in mid stroke, pulling the thing out. He answered and listened as the principal at Madison Prep explained what happened, that apparently his daughter had gotten into a fight with another female student in the parking lot after school.

He raked his hands through his hair and chuckled a little, wondering what caused her to snap. He knew that since she'd started going to Madison Prep, a lot of the girls and a few of the other kids liked to try and use the fact that he had been a serial killer previously to try and make her life a living hell. Maybe she'd had all she could take of it. "I'll be right there." Franco said as he grabbed the keys to the car and flipped the sign on the gallery's doors from open to closed, walked out to the parking garage after stopping to tell Ava Jerome that he was going to the school, his daughter had been in a fight or something.

"Hope everything is okay." Ava said in a mock sweet voice, rolling her eyes as soon as her so called business partner was out the door and out of sight. Like Morgan, Franco had his uses. Lately, however, she sensed that Morgan was starting to see through her so called devotion. And he seemed distracted at best.

She found herself jealous, watching him when they were out someplace to see if she could find the 'other woman' and do something to eliminate the 'threat' if necessary.

She hadn't figured out who it might be yet. So if he was already with someone else, or had someone else in his sights, the kid was nothing if not good at hiding it. Which, of course, pissed her off greatly.

Meanwhile, Franco parked in the parking lot of Madison Prep and sat there a few moments trying to figure out what course of action to take, as Veronica's father and guardian. He told himself the other kid probably deserved it, but he knew he'd have to at least talk to her about what she'd done, find out why because in the short period of time she'd been living with him, he hadn't ever seen her lose her temper, not even a little.

In fact, sometimes, she almost seemed untouchable, like nothing got to her.

A little outspoken and a little fiery at times, but never just the kind of girl who'd beat the crap out of another person without a good reason first.

The yelling from behind the office door had him trying not to smile and laugh, and he put on his 'parental face' for now, firm and stern, then opened the door to find the two girls, Veronica and another, some girl with bright red hair, trying to strangle one another over the guard standing in the middle.

The red haired girl looked up and saw him, gasping as she retreated to a corner and pleaded "Don't kill me. I was just showing her what little monsters get here. What girls who don't just go along with the rest of us get."

"She ripped my freakin Sabbath shirt, sir. And shoved me onto the hood of my own car, tried choking me, poured something over my head that she said was going to 'drive the demon out' of me. What the heck was I supposed to do with that?" Veronica asked as Franco stepped forward saying to the guard "May I?" before stepping into the guard's way, putting his hands on both of his daughter's arms, looking down into her eyes.

"She was, huh?" he asked, Veronica nodding, her eyes wide, her hands shaking. He could tell she was scared to death right now, that she hadn't ever been in any real trouble until she came here and people apparently had a lot to say about her willingly choosing to live with her so called 'monster' of a father.

He looked up and at the dean of the school and said calmly, "What happened?"

"According to another group of girls, Mr. Franco, the whole thing was unprovoked. She attacked Lana first." the dean said as he shifted nervously in his seat under Franco's watchful gaze. Franco looked at his daughter and said quietly, "Maybe we should've put you in Port Charles High.. If the teachers and students here are this small minded, are going to do this every single time I turn around, I'd really rather not waste money sending my daughter here."

"Oh no sir, no.. We'll handle this situation." The dean said nervously as Franco nodded and said with a smug grin, "You will.. Wouldn't want to piss off a homicidal maniac now would we?" with a slightly evil look in his eyes that he could sense intimidated the shorter and much stumpier man. He looked at the girl who'd started the fight, at least that's what he suspected and asked calmly, quietly, "Is your mother or father here? Answer me."

The girl nodded and said quietly, "In the p-parking lot."

"Good. I'm going to talk to her." Franco said as he turned to his daughter and said simply, "We'll discuss this when we get back to the penthouse. For now, go wait in the car." to which Veronica muttered quietly, "Yes sir." and gave the other girl a patent go to hell and burn glare on the way out the door, slamming it in her wake, swearing as loudly as possible as she skipped down the hallway.

Franco chuckled to himself a little when she was out of sight and then made his way down to the parking lot, found the other girl's mother and knocked on the window.

"What do you want?" the woman asked quietly as Franco said in a deathly calm and firm voice "If your daughter even breathes on my kid again, lady, you'll know exactly what I want when you're my next masterpiece." and gave the standard evil laugh.

The woman's eyes widened in fear and he leaned in and laughing quietly said "Gotcha.. But seriously.. Are you the one who's filling your kid's head full of shit? Because if you are and she messes with my daughter anymore, you will not like the end result." surprised at how easily this fatherly instinct stuff came to him since he'd had Veronica living with him.

The woman gaped at him, stuttering and stammering and when he was walking off, smug and satisfied with himself for handling things without violence, without having a blackout rage or something, she called out, "You should have been burnt at the stake."

He waved his hand dismissively at her over his shoulder and called out with a bitter and sarcastic laugh, "That's what they do to witches. If you're going to be a fanatic lady, at least get your damn facts right." before getting into the driver seat of his car.

"Way to go, Dad." Veronica blurted as Franco broke into a brighter than usual grin and commanded "Say that again."

"I said, way to go, dad. That lady is batshit crazy. She was trying to read exorcism passages to me and the dean had to throw her out. She was in a rage because they even let me go here. People are so damn stupid."

"You called me Dad." Franco said with a smug grin as Veronica nodded and said quietly, "I did." while smiling herself. He spoke up seconds later and said "I'm not good at this crap.. But I think what I'm supposed to say right now is something like Don't resort to violence. No matter how angry you get." as he pulled out of the parking lot and into traffic.

Veronica nodded thoughtfully and through laughter said aloud " I didn't wanna this time, dad.. But she just kept on and kept on and then she ripped my favorite Black Sabbath t shirt, stole and crushed my Metallica cds and spouted off how heavy metal and the kind of art you do are what creates serial killers.. I suppose it didn't help when I grabbed her so called 'purifying water' and threw it in her face then called her a maniac and told her that fanatics are the beginning to suicide bombers."

Franco chuckled and then shaking his head said aloud "I'm thinking you shouldn't watch the news so much."

"Haha. Bad things happen everywhere dad.. You won't be able to stop me from seeing or even hearing about all of them." Veronica mused as she leaned her head back against the seat and groaned as she said "I'm gonna have one hell of a headache and black eye later.."

"You probably will. I have to go by PCPD, the school in their supreme idiocy called your grandfather first, and he texted me. He wanted to know what was going on."

"Just freakin great. The man hates both of us." Veronica said quietly as Franco shook his head and mused "No, he doesn't hate us.. He's just not used to the idea of having a family that actually wants to be part of his life. He's a private guy, kinda like.." as the shock hit him..

He wasn't exactly like his own mother, the crazy murdering bitch, Heather Webber.. He actually had a lot of traits in common with his father, Scott.

"Kinda like you?" Veronica finished, Franco nodding as he added "Either way, maybe they have a first aid kit or at least some Tylenol at the station. Let's just get this part over with.. Then we'll go get pizzas and rent a few movies.. We'll have a father daughter hooky day or something.. And then, as much as I hate to, as punishment.. You're going to come with me to my gallery opening tonight and you're going to help catering, serve as a hostess."

The glare he got as he dealt out her 'punishment' was proof enough that he'd actually punished her. Not bad for his first act of parental concern, if he had to say so.

"We just had a milestone." he said with a laugh as they drove onward to PCPD to check in with Scott Baldwin and let the man know that the fight hadn't been anything serious, anything that might heaven forbid taint his run for mayor in a few weeks.

"We did, didn't we?" Veronica asked as she grumbled, "But the gallery opening, Dad? You know how much I hate stuck up and overly priveleged assholes."

"Maybe some of your decency will rub off. It stands, Veronica, you have to do something to actually pay for what happened. You did fight with the girl."

"She soaked me in like, water or something." Veronica laughed as she realized how funny the whole 'fight' actually was after she stopped to really think about it. Quietly, she said "My mother never did this.. She usually just made Tony deal with me.. Or swore at me while drinking vodka, calling me a mistake."

"The mistake was her being allowed to do that stuff." Franco stated as he looked at his daughter and wondered if maybe she shouldn't come to his sessions with Kevin, his psychiatrist. He just got this feeling that Aurora had done more damage than she'd done good with their daughter and if he was going to be in her life, he was going to try and fix the damage done, not make it worse.

But yes, they had just encountered their first milestone as father and daughter.


	11. MORGAN COMES OVER

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10:**

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, grumbled as she caught sight of the time on the clock on her new nightstand. Getting out of bed she stumbled down the hallway and into the kitchen where her father sat, reading the morning paper.

"You let me sleep late."

"It's a weekend. You didn't have a hot date did you?" Franco joked as he looked up and then nodded to a bowl of Lucky Charms and a glass of orange juice that sat at her usual spot at the table. "It's a little soggy."

"Sweet. I like my cereal soggy, makes the marshmellows tastier." Veronica said as she slid into her seat, reaching for the crossword section of the newspaper, eating her cereal as she worked the crossword.

"So.. What's the plan for today?" she asked a few moments later, which her father replied "Well, I'm going to call your mother again and find out why the hell she hasn't bothered sending your clothes and stuff here yet and why she's trying to fight my going after custody." Franco said as he paused and then took a sip of his own orange juice then added, "Then I thought we'd paint that mural you wanted in your bedroom. Then I actually have to go into the gallery for a few hours, a new shipment of art came in, I have to start getting ready for the next art showcase."

"So I'll be on my own this afternoon." she asked as he nodded and said "Unless you want to come with me."

"I might stop by. Molly wanted me to come over and watch movies later, I guess I'll do that. Or just hang out here and watch wrestling and play my Xbox." Veronica said as she continued eating her cereal.

Franco nodded and then said casually "What is it about pro wrestling?"

"It's violent and sometimes it's funny." Veronica admitted as she shrugged and said "It's like a shakespeare play with steel chairs?"

"Interesting." Franco said as he chuckled and then asked "So.. Your birthday's coming up.."

"It is, old man, it is."

"Any idea what you'd want?"

"You don't have to... I mean I'm kinda getting what I want, I'm here and you haven't gotten annoyed and sent me back to her." Veronica said as she looked at him and then said "Besides, it's just another day. I mean I never really made a fuss over them in the past."

This only prompted Franco to make a mental note to talk to Alexis about maybe getting Molly and her boyfriend, a few of the other kids he knew of that Veronica did like, to throw her a surprise party or something.

He wasn't going to miss another birthday or important life event for her, not after almost 18 years of missing so many already.

"Hey, can you pick up some guitar string while you're at the gallery, Dad? I kinda need it. A few of the strings on the bass broke last night when I was trying to play that Avenged song."

"The one that sounded like a machine gun instead of actual singing?" Franco chuckled as he said "Yeah, I can go by the store down the sidewalk and get it. We need more milk.. If you go by the market, you can pick that up. Or we'll both starve, considering the vast amount of cereal we consume." Franco joked as Veronica laughed and said "Hey, grilled cheese isn't so bad either."

"When you don't burn the bread."

"Or set off the damn fire alarms." Veronica echoed as he laughed and then said "All in all, I'm glad you're here."

"Me too, Dad."

He left for the gallery a few hours later, and Veronica wandered around the apartment, mostly cleaning up. A knock on the door had her raising a brow but she went over, called out through the door, "Who's there?" remembering the lecture that her dad had given her a few days before about always leaving the door locked and making sure she knew the people on the other side before letting anyone in.

Apparently, as she now knew, a lot of people in this town hated her father and wanted to do something to retaliate for things he'd done to them when he had no real control over his own actions.

"Molly. Your dad said you were still here. Why are you still here?" Molly asked as Veronica opened the door and stepped aside, let her in. "Dunno. I was cleaning up the place a little." Veronica explained as she asked "So.. What movies do you want to watch today?"

"Maybe Twilight? The Hunger Games?"

"Ooh, Hunger Games. I haven't seen the sequel yet but I have wanted to." Veronica said as the two girls settled in on Veronica's bed in her room, bowl of popcorn between the two of them, lights dim. They'd gotten to the really good part of the movie when the door was knocked on.

"Were you expecting someone?" Veronica asked as Molly shook her head no. Veronica stood and walked to the door, called out "Who's there?"

"It's Morgan."

She gaped at the closed door a moment and then looked down at what she wore and smacked her forehead, groaning to herself. "And he shows up when I'm in my pajamas and look like shit." as she called out "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I had to go somewhere." Morgan called from the hallway as he asked "Are you gonna let me in?"

"Depends." Veronica said as she thought back to the night of the art show, how she'd seen him with an older woman named Ava, whispering, kissing her.

And just a few hours before, in the halls of Madison Prep, he'd been shamelessly flirting with her. She wasn't jealous, she knew she didn't have a claim on him or anything, but it still didn't sit well with her and she didn't like being misled, which is what seemed like he was doing.

"Come on.. I kinda need in there. Now. Trust me, Veronica, you want me inside, now." Morgan said as he recalled the angry and veiled threat that Ava made when she caught Morgan looking a little too long at Veronica during the art show at her father's gallery a few nights before.

Then he'd been locking up his father's coffee shop and some asshole had stepped out, caught him off guard and they'd had a bit of a scuffle.

Veronica opened the door just a little, but when she saw the black eye and busted lip she grumbled and threw the door open, let Morgan inside the apartment. "I'll fix your lip and give you ice for your eye then it's the hell out of here you go. If my dad sees you in here.." Veronica said as Morgan shrugged and said quietly, "Right now, your dad is the least of your worries."

"The hell does that mean?" Veronica asked him as she went to get Molly to come in, look at whatever her cousin had gotten himself into, sit with him while she tried to locate her father's newly purchased first aid kit.

Finding that she came back into the living room and sat down on his lap, taking his face in her smaller hands, pouring antiseptic on his lip, dabbing at it with a q tip as she asked "What'd you mean just now?"

"Ava.. She thinks something.. And somehow, I think she's going to do something to you.. Or have someone do something to you. I came by here to warn you.. But I'm gonna figure something out, it's my fault." Morgan winced out of her reach as the antiseptic hit the open wound, stinging.

"It's cleaning it out, moron, be still." Veronica said as she asked Morgan, "How is it your fault? You're nothing to me, I mean I'm nothing to you.. Damn it, you're confusing me right now."

Molly looked at him and asked "What happened?"

"Apparently, Ava's insecure.. So she got some jackass that works for Julian to 'work me over' make me reconsider ditching her."

"You have to get out of that. Away from her." Molly cautioned as Veronica said "I'm still not seeing how this even remotely concerns me." as Morgan said "She thinks you're a threat.. It's just something she said to me earlier when we had a fight."

"Oh really?" Veronica asserted, her eyes lighting with a warm and angry glow, Morgan's breath catching a little in his throat as he said with a laugh "Whoa Fireball. Ava is not someone you wanna pick a fight with."

"Maybe not if she fought her own damn battles, picked on people her own size and age." Veronica flared angrily as she paced with her hand in her hair, stopped to look at Morgan and asked the obvious question that she hadn't before, "Why in the hell does she see me as a threat?"

"She saw me staring at you during the art show. When I was trying to get your attention? And you were pissed and ignoring me?" Morgan guessed as he said "I don't know, but she's mad now.I'm gonna talk to my dad. I mean this is my fault."

"No, Morgan, it's not. The woman's obviously got issues, I mean she's dating a 19 year old guy for the love of Christ." Veronica blurted angrily, added quietly, "Sorry.. I meant no offense. It's just.. She reminds me too much of my mom."

Morgan studied her a few moments and then said quietly, "Thanks.. For the ice and cleaning up my lip. And not ignoring me now."

She shrugged and said simply, "I'm over it." as she dropped the subject, busied herself from looking at him by putting away the first aid kit. She was turned around by Morgan who put a hand at her hip and said calmly, "I'm gonna fix this."

Molly spoke up and said "Now do you see it, Morgan? Ava doesn't love you. Love doesn't do this. Love doesn't threaten you." as Morgan nodded, muttered something under his breath that neither girl could make out.

And then Veronica panicked as she heard her father singing a classic rock song, badly off key, outside the apartment door. She looked at Morgan with widened eyes and then said in a whisper, "My closet. You can go out when he goes back to the gallery. He's only here to give me my guitar strings."

Molly ran with Morgan to the closet, made sure he got in and flopped back onto Veronica's bed, turned back on the Hunger Games, smiling a little to herself.

Despite any and all protests Molly knew now for certain that her newest friend did care about Morgan. And this made her happy.

Maybe that'd give him the nerve to get away from Ava finally.

Franco unlocked the apartment door and Veronica hugged him then said with a smile, "Made you lunch." holding out a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and a microwaveable bowl full of macaroni and cheese, still pretty warm. He smiled and produced the guitar strings and a new pair of bright orange shoe laces for her Converses from behind his back as he peered into the apartment.

She just had that up to something look that nearly all teenagers get when they are up to something. His fatherly spidey senses were really tingling right now and he asked "You have someone over here?"

"Just Molls, dad."

"Okay, so that's who I heard talking?" he asked as she nodded and said "Mhmm. We were trying to hurry and clean up our mess." laughing a little, hoping to God he bought it and didn't suspect anything. Because she knew his warnings about Morgan.. And she didn't want to fight with him, they'd only just gotten to know each other and really form a solid bond.

He hugged her and then said "Wanted to bring this by, I know you have rehearsal for that contest this afternoon. And I noticed your shoelaces are.. Well they're not really even shoelaces anymore." as she smiled and said "I ironed your blazer for that meeting."

"What meeting?"

"With that artist you're doing a showing for, duh. It's at 2." Veronica said as Franco laughed and then said "It's good having you around."

"Mhmm.. I'm happier here. See you tonight?"

"Over chili from Kelly's? It's a date." Franco joked as he looked around one last time, and finally satisfied that nothing was amiss, there was no wild party going on and (to his knowledge) there was no teen boy hiding in the place, he said "I'm gonna get back to the gallery. Thanks for lunch."

She closed the door and let out the breath she'd been holding, wiped at her forehead as she mumbled "Close."

She walked back into her room and pulled open the closet's double doors, found Morgan nosing around in her clothes, brows raised.

"Okay, outta there. You need to go.. You seriously need to reevaluate your choice in the ladies, senor?" Veronica said as she took hold of his hands and pressed bandages, antiseptic wipes and a ziploc bag of water, to freeze and hold on his black eye, into his hands, holding his gaze intently.

Without thinking, he leaned forward a little and pressed his lips to her forehead then muttered quietly, "I'm going to fix this."

"If she tries anything, Morgan, you're not gonna have to. I'm not actually afraid of her."

"You should be." Morgan warned as she looked at him and laughed then said "Living with a reformed homicidal maniac, remember?"

He smiled a little and then said quietly, "Nice pajamas, by the way." which made her flip him off and shove him gently towards the fire escape exit.

She shut the window firmly and Molly cleared her throat then fanned herself, teasing with a grin, "And you say you don't like him."

"So he's a friend."

"Not from what I just saw." Molly mused as Veronica muttered "It'd never work out." and then sighing, she sank back down on the bed, laughed a little.

"That's the first time I've ever hidden a boy in my closet." she said aloud as Molly turned to her and raised a brow then laughing asked "You're serious?"

"As a massive coronary, Molls. Before I came here and met all of you crazy ass people, I was pretty much a nerd and a loner." she said, shrugging it off.

"It's fun, having someone around to hang out with. Most of the other girls are really, really stuck up." Molly said as Veronica nodded and said with a smile, "They are."


	12. FRIENDS? OR MORE THAN FRIENDS?

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. )**

* * *

**CHAPTER 11:**

CHAPTER 11

"Are you sure you want to work in a boring art gallery after school?" Franco asked as Veronica nodded and said "It's not boring, dad, and duh, I asked to help, didn't I?" as she looked at him and took a bite of her cereal.

Ava's veiled threat, what she'd had done to Morgan, of course, was a huge motivator. Unlike most girls, Veronica wasn't the type to lie down and take something cowering in fear. She fully intended to fight, because all feelings for Morgan aside, he was a friend.

And he was half Ava's age, it sickened Veronica that someone could get so jealous that they'd have a kid beaten up.

Franco studied her, snapped his fingers in her face as he said quietly, "Something bothering you?" while studying her in concern. Something had her in a mood, he was her father, his instincts were telling him that.

"I'm good.. Just a little anxious about that stupid chemistry test." Veronica fibbed as she ate her toast, nibbling at it, looking at him as she said "You do need the help, Dad.. Like, nobody's there to man the phones, balance the books and write things down for you.. Because let's face it, Dad, you are absent minded." and managed a laugh.

"And so are you." Franco said as he smirked and then asked again, "Are you sure you're okay? You looked pretty mad just now."

"The small minded pea brains I go to school with, Dad. That's all. They just piss me off with the way they judge everyone and everything." Veronica fibbed again. She hated lying, especially to her father, but she had this feeling if she did tell the truth, her father might just have a massive coronary on her, after all, he seemed to think Morgan was nothing but trouble.

And maybe he was, but he was her friend too, damn it, and friends don't just let friends stay in bad situations without at least trying to help them.

Which was why she was going to start 'working' at the gallery.

Maybe if she got close enough to Ava (or at least her desk and computer) she could find something on the bitch to get rid of her for good.

"Shit.. Gotta go, Dad. I'll be there after soccer practice." Veronica said as she grabbed her uniform and cleats, her book bag and her skateboard, hugging her father. He smiled and said "The game's Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, but your meeting is too. It's cool, I'll be fine." Veronica said as Franco shook his head and said "I'm gonna make it.. Your grandfather.. He's actually the one who asked.. Apparently, he's coming and he's bringing Lucy with him.."

Veronica raised a brow and then shrugged as she said "Just don't work too hard." as she walked out into the hallway. She'd just gotten around a corner when she felt herself being grabbed and dragged into a private area, an alcove just off the hallway. The door shut and Morgan said quietly, "She's going to go after you somehow.. Because she saw me when I went to the skate park with you guys this weekend."

"Fuck that bitch, Morgan. Do I look like I'm afraid? She's just an old lady who needs to pick on people her own size." Veronica started, only to have Morgan shaking his head and saying "You need to stay out of this, fireball."

"Make me, Captain Morgan." Veronica challenged as he looked at her and shook his head then said "Either way.. I'm gonna tell your dad what she's up to. I know he hates me even breathing near you but it's my fault.. I mean I can't stay away."

"I never said I wanted you to, Captain." Veronica quipped as she glared up at him and said calmly, "And you are not saying a word to my dad. Got it? I've got a plan.. Well, not yet.. But it's coming."

"Are you nuts?"

"Maybe.. I mean my dad was a psycho for a while, Morgan." Veronica explained patiently as she added "And we can't forget dear old grandma, now can we? So maybe I am a little crazy." He shook his head and then said "What are you going to do?"

"Let's just say she's about to get really, really sick of seeing me."

"Nope, not going to let that happen."

"Morgan, you can't exactly stop it. Look, you're my.. You're a friend, okay and I don't let people threaten and have my friends beaten up. Besides, relax.. The stupid old bitch won't ever even realize what I'm up to until it's too late." she said as she bit her lower lip, looked at him with her hand on her hip.

"Nothing I can say is going to stop you, is it?" he asked as she shook her head and said with a shrug, "Not like there's anything else to do in this town." being dismissive about it as usual, to hide the way she did feel about Morgan.

She knew that sooner or later she was going to have to deal with her feelings for him, but for now, she had other things to focus on.

"So.. I heard Molly got you to sign up to perform at the Nurses Ball?"

"I'm singing that song from Frozen. And no, Morgan, you can't see my act before the Ball. You, Captain, are just going to have to wait in line like everyone else." Veronica teased, poking him lightly in the chest with her finger as she stared up into his eyes.

She brushed her finger across the fading bruise on his eye and asked quietly, "What'd your mom say when she saw the shiner?"

"She just told me that I needed to stay out of trouble. I told her I got into a fight at the Floating Rib." Morgan said quietly as Veronica sighed and popped him in the back of the head while pointing out, "Sooner or later, Morgan, your mom's gonna figure it out. She's a smart chick."

"And she likes you too, apparently." Morgan said with a laugh as Veronica raised a brow and he said "Your name might have come up when she saw us talking.. She might have asked a thousand questions about you."

"Oh really.. She did, huh?"

"She did.. And she likes you, I mean I think she does. With my mom it's not really ever easy to tell until you meet her face to face." Morgan said as Veronica smiled and said "Maybe I'll see her while I'm helping Dad at the gallery after school then.. Maybe I need to tell her what that bitch Ava is doing to her son. Right after I slip laxative in Ava's tea, of course."

"Seriously.. You're going to make her miserable, aren't you?" Morgan chuckled as Veronica gazed up at him with a mischevious smirk and said "Why the hell not? I'm a teenager, I'm supposed to be all sneaky and full of trouble."

"This is all my fault." he asserted as she moved closer to him and took a few deep breaths then rested her head against his chest as she looked up and said "It is not your fault, Morgan I mean yeah, you have shit judgement in ladies.. Yeah, you do a lot of things that aren't great.. But none of this is your fault. Sometimes, bad people are attracted to sweet ones."

She straightened the collar on his polo shirt and then said quietly, "If you wanna see me.. You know where I'll be."

"I do, don't I?" he asked as he pulled her against him, hugged her, his hands trailing through her long and messy hair as he said quietly, "I don't deserve a friend like you." with her shaking her head and saying quietly, "I'm no saint, Captain Morgan."

He smiled a little and then said casually, "C'mon.. I'll walk you to school."

If he didn't tell her he was falling for her soon, it was going to drive him insane, literally.


	13. Meow! The Claws Are Out Now!

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that. **

**Oh yeah, and the Haribo Gummy bear thing.. If you haven't eaten haribo sugarless gummies, don't.. They're karma's idea of a really, really bad fucking joke. If you don't believe me, google it! read the amazon reviews, they're quite insightful. But yeah, thought it'd be funny to throw that in here.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12:**

Veronica rolled her eyes at an unsuspecting Ava as she kicked her feet up on the desk in her father's office and texted Molly, who was helping her mom work after school also. She laughed aloud and Ava looked up, Veronica subtly flipped her off as she didn't bother to hide her eyes rolling in Ava's general direction this time. She grumbled to herself "Yeah.. Smile now, Ava.. But when I'm done with you? You won't be. Not even a teeny little one."

She went back to writing down all of her father's meetings and appointments for the week in a planner so he wouldn't forget and didn't think about the little exchange with Ava until about 10 minutes later when Veronica walked out to grab a soda from a vending machine. Ava's hand wrapped around her wrist and Ava leaned in and whispered "I don't know why you dislike me, little girl.. But just know this.. Morgan is mine. And he will continue to be so. I have ways of handling pesky obstacles, like say a best friend who won't butt out?"

From behind them, Carly laughed hysterically and then said "So you're threatening poor teenage girls now, Ava? Really?" as Veronica looked at Carly and spoke up, said in a feisty tone but with a friendly smirk, "I'm not some poor teenage girl. Jerome here has no idea what hell she's just unleashed on herself. Cute, Ava.. If I were you? I'd really start watching my back. Oh, and as far as Morgan goes? I've seen what you do to handle obstacles. Not impressed. The next time you hire a rent a thug to work over my best friend, Ava, you won't like the end result."

She tore her arm free from Ava's hand and walked away, leaving Carly on the verge of laughter and Ava's lips quivering in anger. Carly remarked aloud, " Cute little girl, huh?" before grabbing hold of Ava herself and leaning in, growling, "If what she said is true and you ARE the reason my son has a black eye? I will make sure you feel the worst pain you've ever felt in your entire life. Make no mistakes.. Nobody messes with my kids. And Morgan's better than you. If you lay a hand on him, Ava, I swear to God, there will be nowhere on this planet you can hide from me."

" .Go.. Or you won't like what happens, Carly." Ava said as she snatched free from Carly, glared at her, arms crossed. Carly looked around and then asked "Where's Franco? I came by to see what he wanted when he called earlier. It had something to do with me throwing a party?"

"Probably for that little hellspawn harpy that just stormed out. Not that I know nor care." Ava said as Carly glared at her and then said " I'll come back by. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, I'll come by and see him personally. I want to talk to him about Morgan and his daughter anyway, maybe plead Morgan's case a little."

"But he's happy with me." Ava deadpanned

"Things change, Ava." Carly said with a smirk as Ava glared and watched her walking out of the gallery. She'd just gotten back to work when Veronica came in humming along with her Ipod. Ava glared at the girl predatorily, and muttered to herself "Soon.. I'll get you my pretty.. And your little dog too."

Veronica looked at her and held her middle finger up as she mused aloud, "Take a picture, bitch. Lasts longer." as she flopped into her father's desk chair, sipped on a latte, blowing bubbles. Ava noticed the name on the coffee cup and then said "So you went down there to bother him.. You must really be desperate."

"Actually, Ava the Ape Lady.. I went down because Mr. Corinthos actually knows how to make a damn good latte.. And he usually gives me a free cookie." Veronica scowled at Ava as she laughed and asked "Why? Jealous?"

"Why heavens no. The day someone as beautiful as me is jealous of someone as plain and sarcastic as you are, Veronica, will be the day I hang myself."

"Gee, why can't that day hurry along?" Veronica quipped as Kiki spoke up from behind them, trying not to laugh. She'd seen the girl sitting at Franco's desk around with Morgan, it didn't take an idiot to figure out Veronica was head over feet for Morgan.

"What are you doing here, Kiki?" Ava asked as Kiki shrugged and said "Came by to see Franco's new painting. He wanted to talk to me about something." as she shrugged and looked at Veronica who was now back to working on her father's schedule for the month while making and answering calls with clients.

Which, Kiki noticed with a smug sense of satisfaction, was way more than her own mother, an adult, was being trusted to do by Franco. "I'm gonna go now. Tell him I did come by." which Veronica gave a thumbs up to, waved her away.

Veronica glared across the room at Ava, before digging around in her purse, finding the 5 lb bag of Haribo Sugarless Gummy Bears. She stood and walked over quietly, poured the gummy bears into a candy dish that sat on the table near the coffee machine. Ava eyed the bowl, rolled her eyes. Naturally, it was junk food.

Although, the things did smell heavenly...


	14. FIRST REAL KISS, GUMMY BEARS AFTERMATH

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13:**

"Okay, fireball.. I know that look. What'd you do, huh?" Morgan asked calmly as he caught hold of his friend, holding her up while she laughed so hard she was shaking and almost crying in the lobby of his mother's hotel. Carly stood nearby, watching them like a hawk, slightly smiling, more than a little amused. Veronica caught her breath and then she burst out laughing again holding out one finger this time. "I need.." she wheezed, as Morgan said "Hang on, baby girl.. I got you." hauling her down into an office chair, his mother smiling a little to herself as she heard the way Morgan addressed this girl.

"What did you do? Or do we want to know?" Carly asked as Veronica finally pulled herself together enough to say "She freaking ate them. The whole damn bowl of gummy bears are gone! And she's in the can, can't come out." while Carly looked at Morgan who groaned and then started to laugh a little himself. Veronica looked up and then said with a mischevious smile, "I was sent, ma'am, to ask if you maybe have a few thousand rolls of toilet paper?"

"Why?" Carly asked as Veronica pulled out a cellophane bag and said with a smirk, "My dad's not the only one who's good at finding trouble. These babies are packed with a sugar substitute.. That sugar substitute makes you feel like you are literally crapping fire. And Ava ate the whole damn bowl of them, Ms. Corinthos-Jacks." while Morgan realized what had to be going on right now at the gallery and promptly began to double over, laughing hysterically himself. Carly realized why they were both laughing and said with a light laugh "Oh."

"Yeah. She's been in the can all day." Veronica gasped as she finally managed to stop laughing. Carly handed her an armful of toilet paper and then said calmly, "So, I take it your after school job is going well?"

"Better than well, actually. She hates me, I'm perfectly fine with it. You should have heard her earlier when her brother or whatever came in.. She kept nodding my direction, called me the hell spawn harpy once or twice. When I looked up and then said that anything was better than trolling the playground for my date on Friday night, I think that jerk brother of hers even almost laughed a little." Veronica said as Carly laughed a little and then said "You really don't need to antagonize her. It's not a safe idea."

"Ah hell, it gives me something to do." Veronica answered as she said to Morgan, "I made you something, oh captain of mine." before pulling a comic page she'd drawn while sitting in her dad's office, talking to some of his business associates about an upcoming meeting, out of her pocket. Morgan smiled and Carly said quietly, "I'm gonna leave you two alone.." before edging out of the room. Once she was out, she stood near the open door, listening to them talk, listening to Morgan more or less telling her that antagonizing Ava was a bad idea and she shouldn't anymore, and smiled. She was starting to get Franco to maybe let Morgan be friends with Veronica at least, warming him to the idea of the two of them.

Which was rare for her, because usually, she hated every single girl that either of her sons bought home to her. She didn't hate Veronica, really. She actually liked the girl, she had a lot of spunk, stubbornness.

Kind of reminded Carly of herself at that age in some ways. When she saw Morgan with Veronica, it was almost like watching herself and Sonny when they'd been younger and things were far less complicated.

Inside the room, Morgan looked at the sketch and said "Wow.. I've never.."

"Been a comic character before?" Veronica answered as she looked at him, smiled as she shrugged and said "It could be interesting." as Morgan shook his head and said "No. I've never had a friend who actually cared about me and only me before. And I've definitely never had a girl draw my picture." with a slightly softer than normal version of his trademark smirk. "So... I'm gonna get back over there now before she has a mushroom cloud over Port Charles." which made them start laughing again.

Morgan stopped her and grabbed her, pulled her into a kiss. She gasped and blinked, looked up at him as she felt his forehead for a fever. "You okay, Captain?"

"I wanted to do that." Morgan said quietly as he added "I've been wanting to do that, for a while now, actually. You just tend to disappear or something before I get the chance to." as he asked seconds later, "You're not mad.."

"Not even. I kinda wanted you to do that?" Veronica said as she looked at him a few moments, then said with a smile, "And now, I'm gonna do something." before raising to tiptoe, pulling him into a kiss, her hand resting on the back of his neck. The clearing of a throat from the door had them springing apart a little and Sonny said casually, "Didn't mean to interrupt. Is your mom here?"

"She's, umm... She's in her office." Morgan replied as Sonny gave him a casual smirk and then looked at the armload of toilet paper Veronica held in her arms and said "I'm not even gonna ask her about that." as he chuckled and turned to walk out, going to find Carly. They had to talk about this issue, this thing about his admitting to having shot AJ.

"Your dad seemed tense. More than usual." Veronica said quietly as Morgan nodded and said "Yeah. He did. I'll come to the talent show practice tonight."

"No! I told you, Captain! You gotta wait like everybody else!" Veronica said as he shook his head and then said quietly, "No, I don't. And I don't want to. I want to be there to support my real girl." as he looked into her eyes. She smiled, blushing beet red as she said "I'm gonna... I'm gonna get back over there now. Okay, fine, you can come. Just remember, I am not a professional singer."

"It's gonna be awesome." Morgan called as she disappeared out the door and then across the street, into the gallery's door. He smiled to himself and said quietly, "I'm done with Ava. That kiss just proved my whole theory."


	15. Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty Little Ball O Fur

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 14:**

"What are you doing up there?" Morgan asked Veronica who held out a finger, continued aiming her cell phone higher up into one of the biggest and oldest trees in the park. They'd been taking a walk, talking about her 'performance' for the Nurse's Ball and how nervous it was going to potentially make her, when she'd heard something, stopped them from walking any farther, and shushed him, taking off for the tree at a run. He ran over too, of course, and now, he still hadn't figured out what she was doing.

"You're gonna fall, Fireball." he called up as she hissed "Shhh! It's not just me I'm worried about fallin, Captain Morgan. There's a kitty up here too and it's stuck and scared." Veronica stated matter of factly as she bit her lower lip and grabbed for a branch above her, trying to get closer to the black cat in the tree. Morgan stood at the base of the tree, more than ready to climb up after her, but every time he made a move to, she'd turn and shake her head then say calmly, "Just let me get it. I know how to handle cats."

"Are you sure? Because it's been 10 minutes now, Fireball and.." Morgan started as she shushed him again then went farther up into the tree. He looked up, watching her almost protectively and a tap to his shoulder had him turning around, he scowled at his older brother a little and then Michael asked quietly, "What are we looking at?"

"Veronica.. She's up that tree." Morgan answered while straining to keep his eyes on her so that if she started to fall, he could climb up and get her or at least catch her. Michael asked quietly, "Why?"

"There's a cat in the tree.. Apparently, it's a stray and apparently, Veronica has it in her head that she's going to get it out, one way or another." Morgan mused as Michael snickered a little and then said quietly, "I'm glad you're happier now."

"Stll doesn't mean I like what you did to me, Mike. Just means that I'm over it. I never actually loved Kiki and I'm starting to realize that Ava basically manipulated things to happen between us. I'm breaking it off with her."

"And finally going for Veronica?" Michael asked as Morgan nodded and then called up, "Do you want me to do anything?" waiting on her to answer. He turned to his brother and said quietly, "Sorry.. About AJ I mean."

"It's been hell." Michael admitted as he said quietly, "I'm gonna go. You need to stop by sometime."

"Maybe I will." Morgan said as Veronica called down triumphantly, "And gotcha you little furball. Awww! It's sooooo cute!" before scurrying back down the tree as quickly as possible. Morgan chuckled and helped her to the ground when she got close enough and she opened her jacket, revealed a black baby kitten with big greenish brown eyes. "And he will be my little and I will name him Ozzy. Or Soot." Veronica said as Morgan smiled, then said quietly, "Soot's better. Can you even have cats in your dad's building? I know the apartment I'm in allows for pets."

Veronica shrugged as she rubbed the kitten's nose against her nose and then looked up at Morgan, asked with a smile, "What?"

"It's cute.. Watching you with the cat. Have you never had a pet before?" he asked in curiousity as she shook her head no and then said quietly, "My mom was kind of a bitch. Said that me and my half siblings were more than enough to care for and clean up after, she claimed she was allergic to cats. She was just allergic to owning a pet because that meant she'd have to care for it." as she looked up at him and bit her lower lip. He hugged her against him and then said quietly, "So it was that bad."

"It was." Veronica admitted as she looked up at him and then said quietly, " But I've got dad now, and now I have you and Soot, so I'm alright." while smiling at him. He smiled back and then said quietly, "I'm not really sure that dress you're gonna wear for the song you're singing.. I'm gonna wind up getting tossed out of the ball."

"Morgan, behave. It's not like anybody's gonna see." Veronica said with a laugh as she added "It's not that bad." while poking her tongue out at him and then saying quietly, "Earlier.. I'm glad you finally kissed me, I probably wouldn't have made a move first." as he chuckled and said "It took forever for me to do that, actually."

"Wonder how my dad will react to having a kitty around the house?" Veronica mused aloud a few moments later as Morgan laughed and said "Hopefully, he won't mind."

"If he does, tough shit. That tree was almost 5 stories tall it felt like. I got the little guy down, I'm gonna keep him." Veronica said as the cat meowed, shifting in her arms, nuzzling it's nose against her cheek. She laughed and then said "So.. I'll see you around? I mean I wanna stay, but.. Dad's actually letting me talk to you without being a big baby."

Morgan nodded and pulled her in for a quick kiss as he said with a smile, "Yeah.. I'll walk you to school or something tomorrow. Your dad is using the car again, right?"

"Mhmm. I'll wait on you in the lobby." Veronica said as she smiled and kissed him back, bounced inside the building she and her father lived in. He smiled as he watched her walking off and then he texted his cousin Molly, telling her that she could say I told you so now. After all, she had been right.


	16. FROM FRIEND GIRL TO GIRLFRIEND

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15:**

The sound of 3 Days Grace and Apocalyptia echoed from the spare room in Franco's apartment as Franco stood in the doorway, watched his daughter doing some form of either dance or exercise. He ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that she'd fixed for them both earlier with some really good homemade beef stew. For a few moments, he watched, trying to imagine what his life would have been like, had he gotten to raise her from a young age. The image had him smiling and laughing a little to himself as he stepped into the room clapping, sitting down on the hardwood floor.

"Dad. I didn't know you were in here?" Veronica asked as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead, turned down the music and asked "What's up?" as he shrugged and said quietly, "I still don't like the kid." as she groaned and said quietly, "I know, dad. I know, but I also know that people judge him the same way they judge you.. And maybe, like it is in your case, it is in his case too.. He's not really a bad guy, he's just done some really bad and really stupid stuff. People make mistakes, I'm not a saint either." Veronica admitted which made Franco laugh and then ask her, "So you're really not going to just drop this, the being friends with the kid?"

"No, dad.. I'm not.. And I kind of like him as more than a friend.. I just.. I don't know how close to actually let him in just yet." Veronica admitted as she moved into a warrior pose for her yoga exercises for the day, then stopped to look up at her father and ask "How do you know when to let someone in or not? I mean I used to know, when I was younger.. But then people turned out to be assholes and I stopped." as she stretched and then fell back on the floor, resting, taking a few breaths. She'd tired herself out in here, working out, dancing. But it'd felt good to do it again.

"I can't really explain it.. But you'll know.. And you didn't forget, you just got careful about who you let in. Like I did." Franco admitted quietly as he looked around the room he normally painted in and said "Here's an idea.. I have no idea what to get you for your birthday.. How about we split the studio? I can paint on one side, you can have your dance thing on the other? I didn't know you danced."

"I'd like that. And about Morgan, Dad.. I'm not going to run off and marry him. Just a teenager." as she waved her hands, laughed a little and looked at her father. The cat ran in and he picked it up, looking at it with a raised brow, then at her. "Hey.. I saved Soot from a tree. She stays." Veronica said as Franco chuckled and nodding said "Okay, fine." as he held out the kitten who meowed and jumped out of his hands, landing neatly in Veronica's lap. "You're off to work already?" Veronica asked her dad, pouting up at him. He laughed and nodded and then said "Yeah. I have to get in. Someone's coming to look at a few of the paintings and Ava's nowhere to be found."

"I can come in with you."

"You can enjoy your weekend." Franco said as he waved her off and then said "But we'll go get something to eat tonight, maybe find that cat a collar or something." which made Veronica laugh and shake her head, say "I don't think they actually wear collars, dad." as she helped him get his things together for work.

A few moments later, she was stretched out on her bed, the cat purring beside her head, asleep. Until someone banged on the front door. And she heard Ava standing in the hallway, calling her name. She raised a brow but slid off her bed, and walked to the door, threw it open. "What do you want, cougar lady, huh?"

"To tell you to keep away from Morgan. He's not interested in you. Makes you look pathetic." Ava stated calmly as Veronica doubled over, held her sides and laughed whole heartedly before stopping and looking up and then saying calmly, "Lady? The fact that you're even doing this, warning me away from Morgan is pathetic. Don't you think if he wanted to keep putting up with your abuse he would have chosen to do so? Anyway, we're not exclusive, he only kissed me and I only kissed back.. So don't go getting those fancy high cut granny panties in a twist. I'm not the kinda girl who gets the guy. It's bitches like you, unfortunately."

She slammed the door in Ava's face, smirking in satisfaction as she laughed and texted Molly what just happened and Molly texted back "Are you okay though?"

"I'm good. Just get your butt over here. Bring ice cream. I'm feeling lazy today." Veronica texted back, only to hear the door being knocked on again, hear Morgan calling her name from the hallway. He sounded like he was in pain, so she jumped over the back of the sofa, ran to the door, throwing it open. He practically collapsed into the door and said "Julian's guys.. They found out what I was up to."

"God damn it, Morgan. What the fuck were you thinking? You're not your dad, you can't just go around playing mobster." Veronica said as she sat on his lap, cleaning him up, assessing the injuries, asked him "What happened? Does your father know?"

"He'd kick my ass if he knew what I was doing to try and help him.. But I do know one thing.. Luke's in on it.. The thing Julian's got in mind.. Whatever it is, Luke Spencer is in on it."

"Eughhh.. that creepy old ass guy who hit on me? And on that girl your brother's seeing?" Veronica made a face at hearing this, asked "What have you gotten yourself into, Morgan?"

"Nothing I can't get out of, Veronica, I promise." Morgan said as he stopped her from working on his injuries, pulled her against him and added "And you have to stay out of it. I know you won't listen.. But these people are dangerous.. And my father needs someone's help. Apparently nobody else gives a shit." Morgan said as Veronica sighed and shook her head, reminded him "What about the people who give a shit about you, huh? We're just supposed to hope to hell you don't get in over your head and get dead?"

He looked at her and said quietly, "They don't know how much I heard or saw. They just caught me listening in at the gallery.. Where were you?"

"I slept late. Kind of still felt like shit after last night's whole Taco Hell debacle." Veronica said as Morgan looked at her, concerned then asked "And you're out of bed? Worrying about me?"

"It's kinda what friend girls do, Morgan." Veronica said as Morgan asked "Your dad didn't take off?"

"He couldn't. I'm fine, damn it.. Just ate the tacos of doom. Which is exactly what I told you and Molly and Kristina would happen if I ate them. It's the guacomole, it always makes me sick." Veronica said as Morgan chuckled and said "But you said last night.."

"Shut it, Morgan Stone Corinthos, or I sits on you." Veronica muttered as she looked at him and then asked quietly, "What else did you hear?"

"Just that Ava's really, really mad about the whole gummy bears thing." Morgan warned, holding her against him, his hand trailing through her hair, making her look up at him to say firmly, "And I think you should leave her alone. I mean look what her brother's goons did to me when I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And I'm telling you, Morgan. I've got this. I'm not afraid of that bitch. She may be older.. I however, am smarter. At least I like to think so." Veronica muttered as Morgan laughed, picked her up and ran with her to her room, letting her land on her back on her bed, tickling her all over. "Damn it, Captain.. That's not funny."

"Oh but it is." Morgan joked with a grin as she glared up at him then said "You better be lucky I love you." catching herself off guard as the words came out. He blinked and then leaned down, and said quietly, "And I love you." shocking himself when he realized just how much he meant it. "And you're wrong about something.. You're not a friend girl.. You're my girlfriend.. If you want to be?"

She thought it over and then looked at the cat sleeping nearby, picking it up, looking at it then at him, asking the cat in a teasing tone, "What do ya think, Soot? Can we say yes?" which made him laugh and pout a moment as she paced and then said "Fine.. But on one condition.. You have to stop trying to swoop in and saving your dad's ass. It'll wind up getting you hurt or worse, even."

He nodded and felt bad for agreeing, even though he knew he just couldn't walk away. Someone had to help his father before everything blew up in the man's face. And Michael was grieving and too wound up in his own life as usual to do it.

It fell to him.


	17. MAKING UP SCHOOL DANCE

**(Before I even start, I wanna announce a thing.. So, a reviewer pointed out that Michael might be related to Veronica. And another pointed out a fact I already knew, Morgan is getting the absolute shit stick in storylines. I mean Ava? Seriously? Gross. So, bearing that in mind, I've chosen to go with Morgan Corinthos as Veronica's pairing. Now, I wanna thank everybody who's added the story to their follow list and the two who have reviewed, my anon, Meggie and my signed in reviewer, Castiel Angel Heart. I hope this story is something that people enjoy reading, and I hope to hell it's not the biggest piece of shit written, ever. I'm gonna do what I can with the characters, but in the cases of Morgan and Franco, yes, I am going to redeem both of them because, damn it, they deserve that.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16:**

"I cannot believe you talked me into this, Molly." Veronica grumbled as the two girls stood in Molly's room, looking at themselves in mirrors. "What, it'll be fun.. It's a 50's themed dance, Veronica. What's wrong with that?" Molly asked as Veronica bit her lower lip, turned in the full skirted dress, looked at the flats on her feet and said "I look like one of those doll cake toppers." before flopping down on her friend's bed, scowl on her lips.

"You do not. That dress is cute. And it looks amazing with your new haircut." Molly informed her friend and sat down beside her, asked her quietly, "What's wrong with you tonight? You're moodier than normal."

"Just pissed. I mean Morgan asks me to be his girlfriend.. Then he proceeds to tell me he can't take me to this crap because he's got something he has to do. And I'm worried about him too. I am so freaking scared that he's gotten in over his head, Molly." Veronica said as she paced and scowled when the ponytail in her hair bounced with her each and every move. "Who the hell wore this crap?" she finally grumbled which made Alexis laugh as she stepped into the room, surveyed the two teenage girls and smiled, holding up a camera.

"I thought I might take pictures of you two?"

"Ooh.. Let's go out in the yard.. Under that arch." Molly said as Veronica muttered "I'd rather not be in front of a camera, but hey.." while shuffling out the door behind Molly who punched her arm lightly and said "Cheer up Moody. It won't be that bad.. And maybe Morgan will show up." as she smiled to herself and turned away to text Morgan, laughing to herself.

He was going to surprise her by showing up there. With roses. They'd sort of had a big argument earlier in the week about his helping his father and how much trouble it got him in, not to mention Ava causing problems and tension, and since then, she'd been sort of avoiding him, hurt and angry, confused. Was Ava telling the truth when she said Morgan wouldn't ever be done with her?

She was just sick of the constant wedges coming between them.

Molly smiled as she and Veronica, TJ and Rafe stood beneath the arch in her yard and Alexis took the picture with Julian standing nearby, looking at them all, curiousity in his eyes.

"So what's this dance supposed to be for?"

"We're having a sock hop for Homecoming. We all voted and this is the only theme we all agreed on, plus it was cheaper to do than some of the other ideas. It was more efficient." Molly told Julian who smiled and nodded and then said "Well you all have a good time."

"We are." Molly said as Veronica said "I will just as soon as I figure out how to move in this stupid petticoat." while fussing with her dress, not the least bit happy about having to wear such a frilly dress. But her father had helped her find it, it'd been their thing. He'd even let her wear his leather jacket tonight, helped her getting ready.

He'd dropped her off at Alexis's too and had Julian not been there, he'd have stayed, driven her to the dance if she asked. She rubbed her arms, a cross scowl on her face. She'd rather be goofing off at the apartment with her dad and her cat right now, because she wanted to go to this with Morgan. Not TJ, who'd been enough of a friend to offer to take her since Morgan couldn't.

She wanted to go with her boyfriend. Not her guy friend.

"That one's a little ray of sunlight, huh?" Julian asked Alexis as the girls and TJ and Rafe got into Molly's car and headed off to the dance. Alexis sighed and said "Franco told me some of the things her mother put her through. I think she's just upset about Morgan not taking her tonight."

Julian nodded and said "I've spoken to Ava about that. It's pathetic the way she keeps pursuing a guy half her age and viewing a teenage girl as competition." as he thought about his exact advice to his sister Ava earlier, how he got the feeling that lately, she was up to something, working with Morgan's father against him. If she were, Veronica wouldn't have to worry about Ava trying to break her and Morgan up for much longer.

Because Julian wouldn't hesitate to kill his so called sister. If she betrayed him, she'd deserve it.

* * *

The teenagers pulled into the parking lot of Madison Prep's gym and Veronica said quietly, "You guys go in. I'm gonna wait on my dad.. he said he'd come by, maybe he'd chaperone."

"If they let him." Molly reminded her, remembering her promise to Morgan. The sound of swing music played full blast in the school's gym and she stared at it a moment, biting her lower lip as she said finally, "Okay, alright, fine. Guess I might as well enjoy it." before following her friends into the building. She'd barely made it through the crowd when she felt arms wrapping around her, and she was pulled out of sight, behind the bleachers at the far end of the gym. Morgan laughed as she glared at him, arms crossed, not amused.

He held out the roses and she looked at him and then the flowers, arms still crossed. He pulled her against him and said quietly, "I wanted to surprise you. Didn't know we'd wind up fighting about everything."

"Yeah, well I didn't know a 35 year old woman with ego problems was gonna be what started it all. So.. You're here.. Does that mean you're done with her, or are you just sneaking out? I don't want to be hidden. I don't want us to hide things. From each other or anyone." Veronica said stubbornly as he looked at her and nodded then said "Well, I did dig this stupid tuxedo out of my dad's old clothes.. And I am here.. And I did bring flowers."

She smiled a little, looking up at him a moment, biting her lower lip as she said quietly, "You did."

"Are you mad at me now?" he asked as his finger trailed along her sleep slowly. She shrugged and said "It depends.. Are you gonna keep getting into shit you need to stay out of? Are you done with Ava and all of her crap?"

"I'd ended it with her, actually. She just decided to make it look like I hadn't. If you'd have stayed a little while longer, Veronica, you might have seen me tell her off and walk away, run after you. Where did you go when you saw us?"

"I ran and hid.. It's stupid.." she muttered, bit her lower lip as she looked up at him. He looked at her and said quietly, "No, it's not. I looked everywhere."

"Okay, alright, fine.. I went to the park, I sat in the jungle gym for a few hours." Veronica admitted as Morgan pulled her out of the hiding behind the bleachers and practically dragged her to the dance floor, thanking Molly and her date Rafe and TJ, a friend of his for making her come to the dance tonight so he could do this.


End file.
